or and implementing structural growth are ways in which a country can build a foundation that is not rooted in corruption and violence.

Taking into consideration Afghanistan’s strategic geographic location and natural resources could make it a hub for international trade. Using American troops to enforce security while bringing in economists, peacekeepers and educators would enable the local people to trust and participate in their government. This way, the U.S. is not seen as abandoning its responsibilities in rebuilding a war-torn nation and is also empowering the Afghan people to take part in their own government. The troops should focus on working with the Afghan military to train them and restore the law and order while United Nations experts would go in to rebuild the economy and rehabilitate the people. This approach is more time consuming and involves multiple stages with multiple stakeholders. This method would remove a heavy financial burden from the United States and redistribute it within International Organizations like the IMF and World Bank. Additionally, by slowly and strategically removing troops, the Taliban would also succumb to the negotiations to maintain peace in the country. Though this does not remove all foreign forces from the Afghanistan, it is a way to open up dialogue and ensure cooperation.

The United States should also set measurable goals for Afghanistan. For every goal that is met, an additional layer of troops would be removed. Goals such as increasing employment rates, or ensuring 80% of students are back in school, and economy is revitalized by 5% yearly. With American presence still in Afghanistan, security wouldn’t be something solely provided by the obdurate Afghan military. Most of the literature on reconstruction efforts place a greater emphasis on the security and economy streams, but I think, in the case of Afghanistan, greater emphasis on the social aspects would prove to be more effective. Critics of this approach would undoubtedly mention the extended time commitment to launch this approach, however, I think this is better than the alternative which would to risk attacks from terrorist groups. The Taliban also demanded a removal of foreign presence as a demand for a peace treaty, so we would need to reexamine other ways to give them their sovereignty.

Recommendation

The United States is committed to the security and protection of the American people and to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. As such, the main concern with the expedient removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is that it jeopardizes American national security. I, thus, recommend the United States strategically reduce troops over an extended period of time and reallocate resources to work towards the reconstruction of its e