How not to disengage from a conflict: Evidence from Afghanistan
In the wake of the September, 11 2001 terror attacks on the United States, NATO, for the first time ever, invoked its mutual defence clause enshrined in its constituting Article 5. NATO subsequently ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had been harbouring Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaida, in a campaign starting in October 2001. Hopes that improvements in health, education, women’s rights, and economic opportunities in Afghanistan would drain support for the Taliban quickly evaporated. A protracted war of attrition marked by asymmetric warfare ensued, and the conflict in Afghanistan b...
Source: voxeu.org
