Stabilizing Afghanistan

As the military campaign in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network and the Taliban regime progresses, an international effort for the reconstruction of Afghanistan has risen to the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda. In the first of a series of collaborative briefings by the Brookings Institution and the International Crisis Group (ICG) on global terrorism and conflict prevention, a panel of foreign policy experts will discuss the conclusions of a new ICG report, which identifies the policy options available to the international community for the immediate and longer term stabilization of both Afghanistan and the highly volatile, strategically important Central Asia region.

The ICG is a private, multinational organization committed to strengthening the capacity of the international community to anticipate, understand, and act to prevent and contain conflict. Chaired by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, with former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans as its president and chief executive, ICG has its headquarters in Brussels and advocacy offices in Washington, New York, and Paris. It also has field projects in nineteen crisis-affected countries and regions across four continents, including Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. ICG produces regular, analytical reports with recommendations targeted at key international decisionmakers.