New York Times columnist David Brooks not too long ago wrote a column titled Smart Power Setback, criticizing the way the international aid system functions in Afghanistan.
More than nine years after Taliban militants were driven from power in Kabul, women in Afghanistan are making slow but steady progress in their effort to secure basic rights.
About 8 million Afghans, or more than one out of every four residents of the war-torn country, are in acute need of humanitarian assistance. The best way to meet this tremendous demand is through long-term investment in Afghanistan’s sustainable development.
After 31 years of violence in Afghanistan, the opium poppy crop remains one of the few reliable sources of income for poor Afghan farmers. It is unrealistic to expect them to give up poppy cultivation without providing them an alternate way of generating enough income.
