• Commentary
  • Research
  • Experts
  • Events
Carnegie China logoCarnegie lettermark logo
{
  "authors": [
    "Sarah Chayes"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "SAP",
  "programs": [
    "South Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "South Asia",
    "Afghanistan"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Security"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

Afghanistan After 2014

Focusing on the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan masks important political realities that may prevent the United States from achieving lasting peace and security as the 2014 deadline for withdrawal approaches.

Link Copied
By Sarah Chayes
Published on Nov 28, 2012

Source: KCRW

What are the pitfalls that the United States faces as it prepares to leave Afghanistan over the next two years? Speaking on KCRW radio, Carnegie’s Sarah Chayes participated in panel discussion on the pitfalls facing the United States as it prepares to leave Afghanistan over the next two years.

Chayes argued that the current topics dominating discussion in the White House and the Pentagon are the number of troops and the pace of withdrawal. But, she said, these are not the chief issues that will affect the chances of achieving lasting peace and security in the country. Instead, Chayes recommended looking at the state of civil society in Afghanistan. Chayes highlighted two areas of concern: the economy and the role of neighboring Pakistan.

  • The Economy: Chayes lamented the “acute capture” of the state’s economic resources by elite cliques, and warned that if the distribution of resources is not fairer and more equitable, long term stability in Afghanistan is unlikely.
     
  • Pakistan: Chayes advised high-level diplomatic engagement with Pakistan on its legitimate strategic goals for the region along with policy instruments designed to dissuade Pakistan from acting through militant proxies like the Taliban or the Haqqani network. She suggested that without bringing Pakistan on board, there is unlikely to be a lasting solution to the security problems Afghanistan faces.

This broadcast originally aired on KCRW Radio.

About the Author

Sarah Chayes

Former Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Sarah Chayes is internationally recognized for her innovative thinking on corruption and its implications. Her work explores how severe corruption can help prompt such crises as terrorism, revolutions and their violent aftermaths, and environmental degradation.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    China Financial Markets test

      Sarah Chayes

  • Paper
    Fighting the Hydra: Lessons From Worldwide Protests Against Corruption

      Sarah Chayes

Sarah Chayes
Former Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Sarah Chayes
SecuritySouth AsiaAfghanistan

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie China

  • Commentary
    China’s Mediation Offer in the Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Sheds Light on Beijing’s Security Role in Southeast Asia

    The Thai-Cambodian conflict highlights the limits to China's peacemaker ambition and the significance of this role on Southeast Asia’s balance of power.

      Pongphisoot (Paul) Busbarat

  • Trump and Xi on a red background
    Commentary
    Emissary
    China Is Determined to Hold Firm Against Trump’s Pressure

    Beijing believes that Washington is overestimating its own leverage and its ability to handle the trade war’s impacts. 

      • Sheena Chestnut Greitens

      Rick Waters, Sheena Chestnut Greitens

  • Commentary
    A Second Trump Term: Will Southeast Asia Tilt Toward China?

    Tapping our network of China experts in the region, Carnegie China offers this latest “China Through a Southeast Asian Lens” report to offer preliminary assessments of whether the U.S. effort to reshape the global trading order will lead countries in the region to tilt toward Beijing. 

      • +6

      Selina Ho, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, Joseph Ching Velasco, …

  • Research
    China Through a Southeast Asian Lens

    Because strategic, economic, and ideological perceptions of China contain multiple, sometimes contradictory facets in Southeast Asia, receptions of and responses to Beijing diverge across and within state lines.

      Evan A. Feigenbaum, Chong Ja Ian, Elina Noor

  • Article
    Northeast Asia Is for Deterrence and Southeast Asia Is (Mostly) for Freeriding: Appreciating Divergent East Asian Approaches to Order, Uncertainty, and Contestation

    Most Southeast Asian states behave as if the actions of their Northeast Asian neighbors and the Philippines will be sufficient to maintain a regional status quo from which they can benefit.

      Chong Ja Ian

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie China
Carnegie China logo, white
Keck Seng Tower133 Cecil Street #10-01ASingapore, 069535Phone: +65 9650 7648
  • Research
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie China
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.