The legitimate grievances of the Afghan people are successfully maximised by the Taliban in their propaganda campaign. Critically, this could allow the Taliban to progressively become a legitimate political movement in the southern part of the country. The United Kingdom and the international community risk losing what has been achieved so far in Afghanistan. more...

Technical Blueprint
June 2007

Licensing poppy for the production of essential medicines: an integrated counter-narcotics, development, and counter-insurgency model for Afghanistan.
Resolving Afghanistan's illegal opium crisis is the key to the international community's successful stabilisation and development in the country. Yet, by overemphasising failed counter-narcotics strategies such as forced poppy eradication, the United States-led international community has aggravated the security situation, precluding the very reconstruction and development necessary to remove Afghan farmers' need to cultivate poppy.
The Poppy for Medicine model provides a village-based solution to these challenges. more...

By Romesh Bhattacharji, former narcotics commissioner of India

Important lessons from the experiences of Indian farmers, administrators and security experts could inform the implementation of a Poppy for Medicine project in Afghanistan. The role played by the Indian farming villages, and in particular the role played by the village headman, in controlling poppy cultivation and limiting diversion in licensed poppy cultivation projects has empowered a variety of stakeholders. This lesson is particularly relevant with regards to the social control hierarchies present in Afghan rural societies. more...