Opium in Afghanistan: A Reality Check

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In The Media

Carnegie Europe

Opium in Afghanistan: A Reality Check

Fabrice Pothier explains the scale of the the opium problem in Afghanistan and argues for a decoupling of counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics operations.

By Fabrice Pothier

Published on Mar 27, 2009

Opium poses an existential threat to Afghanistan’s reconstruction: it feeds a systemic corruption and undermines governance, provides fresh funds to insurgents and criminal groups, and locks entire sections of the rural population in poverty. But to effectively tackle a problem of this scale, a counter-narcotics strategy requires functional institutions, relative government control, and a coherent reconstruction strategy. Today Afghanistan meets none of those conditions. Yet the opium problem is not going to go away without any sustained policy pressure. This is the close-to-impossible drugs policy dilemma that the international community and the Afghan people face.

This article originally appeared in LSE IDEAS Strategic Update. To read the article in full, please click here.

About the Author

Fabrice Pothier

Former Director, Carnegie Europe

Pothier, director of Carnegie Europe, is a noted commentator on European policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, transatlantic issues, and global drug policy.

Recent Work

Commentary
Can Macron Reload the Minsk Process?
- Fabrice Pothier
Q&A
Where's Europe?
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Foreign Policy Economy Security Asia Europe South Asia Afghanistan Western Europe

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.

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