Vanda Felbab-Brown

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."

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

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....

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."

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