The Influence of American Strategy on Afghanistan’s Drug Issues

　　ABSTRACT: Afghanistan faces tremendous domestic challenges from drugs which link closely to broader regional politics. The US intervention in Afghanistan has resulted in the creation, expansion and nationalization of a “drug financing” model, which has been a catalyst for the rapid escalation of drug problems in Post-Taliban Afghanistan. While this is the greatest external factor explaining Afghanistan’s drug problems, it has also long been ignored by scholars. To a certain extent, Afghanistan’s drug problems are a primary unexpected consequence of America’s Afghanistan strategy, and have both positive and negative implications for American interests in the country. Presently, the key to resolving Afghanistan’s drug problems is America changing its unilateral, unsystematic and non-comprehensive strategy towards Afghanistan.