THE INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS IN AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

I am honoured to have a part in the remarkable series on the Challenges of Peace Operations. It is a particular privilege to join Major General Zorlu, who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, in presenting our perspective on the Afghan success story. General Zorlu would probably agree with me that it is a story still being written. But even today in the middle of the story, I believe that we have adequate confidence in a successful conclusion. I will discuss what I see as the ingredients of success in Afghanistan. These ingredients include: 1. Leadership arising from the international community and the Afghan people; 2. The proper and vital role of the United Nations; 3. The essential contribution of humanitarian action, including return of refugees and displaced people, to rebuilding a failed state; and, 4. The interrelationship of security, human rights, and the rule of law. We can draw enormous encouragement from the first three. The jury is still out on the all-important number four.