Afghanistan Study Group: Revitalizing Our Efforts, Rethinking Our Strategies

The Afghanistan Study Group was formed in the spring of 2007, and its work was conducted on a voluntary pro-bono basis under the auspices of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. With the Iraq Study Group experience in mind, this group attempted to work on a flexible and agile basis to ensure that its work bared results as soon as possible. For more focused work, the group also decided to center its analysis on several key issues that its members identified as both urgent and crucial for future success.

The group, co-chaired by Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and General James L. Jones, included prominent experts on the region and on foreign policy. In addition to its working sessions, the group held consultative sessions with: Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher; former United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General to Afghanistan, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi; Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, Mahmud Durrani; Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States, Said Tayeb Jawad; and United States Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland (via video-teleconference). (The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of any or all of these individuals.)