Vanda Felbab-Brown

Associated Press

February 20, 2007

"Opium Wars"

Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

As NATO braces for a spring Taliban offensive in Afghanistan, many in the Bush administration, the Congress and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime are calling for it to take on a prominent role in combating the narcotics trade....

June, 2006

Kicking the Opium Habit? Afghanistan's Drug Economy and Politics since the 1980s

Journal Article, Conflict, Security & Development, issue 2, volume 6

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

March 23, 2006

"Hasty Poppy Eradication in Afghanistan Can Sow More Problems"

Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

"...Increasingly, the Taliban insurgents have joined forces with some of the Pashtun drug traffickers in the south, protecting drug convoys for payoffs and carrying out joint operations. Meanwhile, interdiction efforts have only consolidated the drug industry, strengthening the hold of local warlords — now police chiefs and government officials — on the drug trade while crowding out small traders.

The popular discontent in Afghanistan with the failure of Kabul to deliver security, social services, and basic livelihood is steadily growing. Although much has been achieved, expectations of improved living conditions have been growing at a much more rapid pace. Increasingly, the discontent is directed against President Hamid Karzai himself. The popularity he enjoyed after the presidential elections in 2004 is slipping. By the fall of 2005, unemployment and lack of basic necessities had paralyzed Kabul with protests...."

March 20, 2008

"Asia's Role in the Illicit Trade of Wildlife"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

"Although some of these unfortunate animals supply the domestic market in Burma, many go to China and elsewhere in Asia for food consumption as well as homemade medicines and good luck charms. Many of the species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but the local authorities in Mong La, the Burmese government, and China have not shown much of an interest in enforcing the prohibitions."

February 2006

"Trouble Ahead: The Cocaleros of Peru"

Journal Article, Current History, issue 688, volume 105

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

"Ironically, civil society, which the United States has been exporting as a means of democratization around the world, is precisely what is complicating its counternarcotics policies in the Andes."

January 2006

"A Better Strategy against Narcoterrorism"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, MIT Center for International Studies Audit of the Conventional Wisdom, volume 06-02

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

It is widely recognized that access by belligerent groups to the gains from drug production and trafficking contributes to the intensity and prolongation of military conflict. Also, that such groups—terrorists, insurgents, or warlords—grow stronger when they successfully exploit the drug trade. The United States' response—its antinarcotics policy— emphasizes crop eradication. This strategy is too simplistic and, ultimately, ineffective.

December 18, 2005

"Afghanistan and Opium"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

"Licensing production of legitimate drugs would not only shrink the size of Afghanistan's illegal economy, it would also provide a sustainable livelihood for the poor peasants, and generate income for the Afghan state."

November, 2005

The Intersection of Terrorism and the Drug Trade

Book Chapter

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

Autumn 2005

"Afghanistan: When Counternarcotics Undermines Counterterrorism"

Journal Article, Washington Quarterly, issue 4, volume 28

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007

Paradoxically, counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan frequently complicate counterterrorism and counterinsurgency objectives and can even undermine democratization. Counternarcotics strategy should concentrate instead on strengthening the Afghan state’s capacity.

Fall 2005

Drugs and State Building in Afghanistan

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Pr?cis, issue 1, volume XV

By Vanda Felbab-Brown, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Program on Intrastate Conflict, 2005–2007