Security for East and West and Situation in Afgahnistan

Vice President of the EastWest Institute and Director of the Regional Security Program, Ambassador Dr. Beate Maeder-Metcalf, spoke during a lunchtime debate on "Security in East and West and the Situation in Afghanistan", organized by the Hanns Seidel Foundation on February 27, 2013.

Other interventions were prepared by H.E. Mr. Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, who gave the keynote address "Countering Security Threats from Afghanistan in the contex of ISAF withdrawl: a view from the collective security treaty organisation" and focussed most of his intervention on the military threats arising from the withdrawl of ISAF from Afghansitan.

Dr. Maeder-Metcalf addressed issues of economic security post-2014 in Afghanistan, as security and stability are interlinked with the economic potential young Afghans have. Boosting the growth potential of Afghanistan's economy require international and regional cooperation and is a joint effort. Afghanistan has potential for economic growth, for example in the areas of argiculture and the extractive sector (mining). Such joint efforts are particularly pressing as Afghanistan is also facing the risk of economic slow-down in 2014 and beyond due to the withdrawl from international troops. Therefore Afghanistan needs to manage a transition from an economy supported by presence of foreign troops to a more self-sustaining economy. 

Further interventions were made by MEP Krzysztof Lisek and by Dr. Ingo Friedrich, Board Member of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.