Working Together to Counter Narcotrafficking
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STRATEGIC TRUST-BUILDING
n April 2013, the U.S.-Russia working group on Afghan narcotrafficking released its first report. Afghan Narcotrafficking: A Joint Threat Assessment spells out a common and comprehensive understanding by U.S. and Russian experts on the nature of the threat posed by the trafficking of narcotics from Afghanistan. The report concludes, among other findings, that the U.S. and Russia share a number of concerns related to Afghan opiates, despite differences in the type and scale of those threats. It also issues a clear warning: “As NATO and U.S. troops prepare to
withdraw from Afghanistan, which is still struggling with a highly volatile security situation, weak governance, and major social and economic problems, the size of the opium economy and opiate trafficking are likely to increase and pose an even greater challenge to regional and international security.� Widely distributed in the Washington and Moscow policy communities, this joint threat assessment will be followed in 2014 by reports with specific recommendations for bilateral U.S.-Russian and multilateral solutions to curb the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan.
U.S.-China Sanya Initiative JUNE
U.S.-China High-Level Security Dialogue MAY
Preventing Nuclear Terrorism MAY U.S.-China Sanya Initiative DECEMBER
U.S.-China HighLevel Political Party Leaders Dialogue NOVEMBER
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Main Events 2013
Threading the Needle Report Launch SEPTEMBER
U.S.-Russia Working Group on Afghan Narcotrafficking OCTOBER