Future

Afghanistan is a country that has provided considerable difficulty for both the natives of the country as well as the international community. With the United States deployed there fighting an insurgency and the people trying to get used to the idea of a central government, Afghanistan’s future can appear grim. There are five important themes that must be addressed to provide better insight into where Afghanistan is headed.

Security:

To begin with, for there to be any future for Afghanistan, there needs to be an increase in security in the different regions. The Taliban have increased their attacks, targeting individuals while in prayer and sending donkey led bombs to kill governors. Despite how intensive the rebuilding has been in Afghanistan, without a strong sense of security, the people of Afghanistan—those who matter the most when it comes to a rebuilding—are not likely to join forces and aid the U.S. forces.


Because of this, the central theme of security must be not only the removal of Taliban forces in regions of the country, but more importantly, holding onto regions. For too many years, soldiers would come in, kill Taliban fighters and then leave the region. After a short time, the Taliban would return and anyone who had even talked to soldiers would be severely punished or executed. In response to this, the Afghani people stopped communicating with the military. Without this support from the people, no amount of combat will defeat the Taliban.

What is important to understand going forward, though, is that a consistent appearance of Afghan police and Afghan military is what will prove to the people that they are safe to communicate with the coalition. If this sense of security cannot be applied, the future of Afghanistan will continue to look dismal.


Economy: the next step for the future of Afghanistan is to begin developing the economy of the country. Because of decades of war, the land is barren and it is difficult to develop a profitable farm in anything other than opium. However, if the economy is truly going to develop, the opium was be removed from the field and replaced by things that can be legally sold and potentially taxed.

A recently agreed upon deal with China over a copper mine located in the Logar province has the ability to generate $400 million a year in revenue for the government, but also can generate 20,000 jobs. Because of the sheer size of the copper mine, there is a good chance that these jobs will last for some time allowing the per capita to raise significantly.

A recently agreed upon deal with China over a copper mine located in the Logar province has the ability to generate $400 million a year in revenue for the government, but also can generate 20,000 jobs. Because of the sheer size of the copper mine, there is a good chance that these jobs will last for some time allowing the per capita to raise significantly.