Davood Moradian

(Director-General, Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies)

Author

Dr. Davood Moradian is the founder and the first Director-general of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. He has worked for the Afghan government since 2006 in different capacities, including Chief of Presidential Programs at President Karzai's office and Senior Policy Advisor to Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-11). He also taught international relations at the University of St. Andrews and the American University of Afghanistan.

Abstract

There is almost an intellectual and policy consensus on the fundamental principle of "indivisibility of security and prosperity". The three regions of Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia remain unstable and underdeveloped, though with different levels of severity and variation. This extended region is endowed with immense natural and human resources. Equally, it is confronted with a multitude of structural, political, economic and social challenges and upheavals. Chief among the region's challenges is instability in Afghanistan. Unstable Afghanistan has inhibited the region's economic prosperity and regional connectivity. This paper looks at the main driving forces behind Afghanistan's continuing instability and proposes strategies to attain two mutually reinforcing objectives: stable Afghanistan and a prosperous region.