The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation
Unit (AREU) launched a new working research paper:
“Drugs and Development in
Afghanistan, National Policy and Actor Analysis” at a virtual event today.
The paper, co-authored by Dr
Adam Pain, Mr Kaweh Kerami and Dr Orzala Nemat, gives an overview and
background understanding of the counter-narcotics laws, policies and programmes
that have underpinned counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan since 2001.
The paper argues that Afghanistan’s
opium poppy economy presents a complex policy problem. It lies at an
intersection between various seemingly discordant policy challenges: an
emergency or a development issue; a law-and-order issue or a security threat; a