Afghan Aspirations: Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States Said T. Jawad speaks on the challenges and hopes of Afghanistan at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum in March. Meghan O’Sullivan, lecturer in public policy at the Belfer Center, introduced him.
Photo by Michael Casey

"Center Scholars Suggest Way Ahead for U.S. in Afghanistan, Pakistan"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School and

Summer 2009

Author: Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security; Managing the Atom

"We have a clear and focused goal to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future," President Barack Obama said in a statement on March 27, 2009.

Several members of the Belfer Center community comment on President Obama's plan.

Graham Allison and John Deutch

"We suggest renaming [this] policy 'PakAf,' to emphasize that, from the perspective of U.S. interests and regional stability, the heart of the problem lies in Pakistan....For Afghanistan to develop into a modern, prosperous, poppy-free and democratic country would be a worthy and desirable outcome. But it is not vital for American interests....The problem in Pakistan is more pressing and direct. There, the U.S. does have larger vital national interests. Top among these is preventing Pakistan's arsenal of nuclear weapons and materials from falling into the hands of terrorists such as Osama bin Laden....Protecting Pakistan's nuclear arsenal requires preventing radical Islamic extremists from taking control of the country."
-- "The Real Afghan Issue is Pakistan," Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2009

Hassan Abbas

"There is an emerging consensus among foreign policy experts that the growing insurgency and militancy in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) poses the greatest security challenge not only to Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also to the United States....The prevailing democratic transition in Pakistan, despite its limitations, provides the best opportunity for it to halt the region's extremist trends through joint cooperation and trust building. Creative American policies can play a significant role in this context...."
-- "President Obama's Policy Options in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)," Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, January 26, 2009

Meghan O'Sullivan

"President Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan deserves high marks on several fronts: The president made a compelling case connecting these countries with U.S. interests; he committed substantially more military and civilian resources to the effort; and he placed equal weight on Afghanistan and Pakistan - the latter being the true epicenter of this conflict. It is reasonable to wonder whether the new strategy is informed by the most important lesson from Iraq: Nothing is more important than winning the support of the population by providing security."
-- "Obama's Afghanistan Strategy," Washington Post, March 29, 2009.

Robert Rotberg

"The war in Afghanistan is winnable. The first 4,000 [U.S. troops] will train the Afghan army, which is being expanded. The next 30,000 troops will combat the Taliban in the south and along the border. This approach is the right one, and is an attempt to retrieve the failed, under-resourced Bush policy."
-- "Robert Rotberg Addresses Additional Troops' Roles in Afghanistan," Harvard Kennedy School interview, April 3, 2009.

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