Publication

This report analyzes the contributions made by provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) on the ground in Afghanistan. It concludes that the PRTs have been successful because they help extend the authority of the Afghan government beyond Kabul, facilitated reconstruction and dampened violence. At the same time, the authors explain that the PRTs cannot address or resolve the underlying causes of insecurity in Afghanistan. The report details how the PRTs only make sense as part of an overall strategy in which they serve to buy time while other instruments are employed to tackle the military threat posed by the Taliban and Al Qaida, as well as the infighting between warlords, the increased lawlessness and banditry in rural regions, and the booming opium poppy cultivation for the drug trade.