The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that took over operations in the south of Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition faces a tough task. Although Afghanistan has made progress in building national political institutions in the past year, many issues remain problematic. Security has declined in many parts of the country, law and order are not well established, and narcotics are still the dominant element in the fragile economy. Donors need to put particular emphasis on crafting an effective approach to narcotics and policing. This summary focuses mainly on security issues in Afghanistan and is based in part on a NATO-sponsored trip to Afghanistan by CSIS’s Ambassador Teresita Schaffer in June 2006.
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