Third NATO Afghan Student Forum
Plane and train took me to beautiful Biarritz, splendidly situated in southern France between the Pyrenees and the Atlantic ocean, to be part of the third Afghan Student Forum organised by NATO and the University of Bayonne. Unlike the forum's name suggests, there were students from many nations present, not only from Afghanistan; and unlike what the unwound atmosphere of the location gave rise to, we spoke of very serious topics. Conflict, violence, insurgencies, drug trafficking. Taliban, Mujahedin, NATO, UN and EU. Cooperation and coordination, collective security and comprehensive approaches
The conference presented the current issues and challenges of the NATO's mission in Afghanistan, as well as an outlook on the future. Through various lectures we learnt about different views on the situation in Afghanistan and on how it is best addressed, according to those various parties. The participation of the Afghan students in this forum gave it an extra edge, and they shared many personal experiences in their presentations, which was highly appreciated. A lot of the plans for Afghanistan's future involve terms like 'Afghan ownership' and 'Afghanisation'. But these are chiefly foreign plans for Afghanistan – drawn up by the international community. The presence of students from Afghanistan helped put all this in perspective, and make it more real.
Regionalisation seems another trend in today's approach. How to involve the neighbouring countries to Afghanistan in the peace building plans? But also: how to prevent 'spillover' from the conflict into those states? Many Taliban insurgents are not based in Afghanistan, but in bordering countries. Do they get support locally? What are the main transport routes of the poppy that provides the insurgents with financial means? How can the neighbouring states be enticed to invest and participate in the peaceplans? All this needs to be addressed in order to realise even the tiniest bit of sustainable result. It became quite clear at the forum that although there have been achievements in this respect, more efforts are needed to build up a sustainable system of regional cooperation.
Jokingly, we said afterwards that the plans for peacebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan can be summarised in one phrase: the international community will apply a multifaceted approach involving both local and interregional debate in the discourse. But in a way, it's true. The total of all challenges, problems, and the list of things-to-be-addressed is enormous. Develop regional initiatives, act with respect for the local tribal society, provide alternative livelihoods for poppy production, build up the economy, strengthen the education system and ensure democratisation - these angles are all implemented. And by a multitude of nations, on top of the security threats all round the country, which also need to be tackled.
At one point I felt myself getting desperate for Afghanistan. Is the world going to be able to help materialise a new future for Afghanistan, to help it rise from its ashes as central asian phoenix? But the very fact that we were all there, discussing, debating, having lots of interregional discourse on comprehensive and multifaceted approaches, is a reason for hope. The will and attention are there. With stamina and continuous efforts – with better coordination – the international community together with the Afghans will restore Afghanistan to its inherent beauty as a nation.
Welmoet Wels from the Netherlands
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect NATO’s views.
