Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
As Afghanistan enters its harsh winter season, a massive humanitarian disaster appears increasingly likely. Facing food shortages, rising prices, and a breakdown in public services, millions of ordinary Afghans need immediate assistance as their country veers toward economic collapse...
On august 19th Afghans will take to the streets to mark 100 years of independence from Britain. They have more to protest about than to celebrate: their country has not known peace for 40 years. Afghanistan’s modern woes began in earnest in 1979, when the...
In an interview with TOLOnews on Sunday, William Byrd, former head of the World Bank, lent credence to the claim against the current administration that changes in government positions a year ahead of a presidential election are politically motivated...
Acting Minister of Finance Khaled Payenda on Thursday said there have been no reforms at the customs offices in Afghanistan in the past decade, and this neglect has paved the way for 50 percent of revenue to be embezzled.
“It may be perceived as a test of the government, but we know in this part of the world it's very hard for any government to do that much,” said William Byrd, a senior expert on Afghanistan for the United States Institute for Peace in Washington, who ...
William Byrd, an economist at the United States Institute of Peace who has written extensively about Afghanistan, said that without political improvements, such economic programs usually had little effect in creating broader economic confidence.
To understand how difficult it would be to construct the 1,814-kilometer TAPI pipeline to eventually carry some 33 billion cubic meters of gas from southern Turkmenistan all the way to Fazilka, India, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, assembled a Majlis, a panel discussion, to review the situation for TAPI as construction begins in Turkmenistan.
What Can Be Done to Revive Afghanistan’s Economy? That’s the title of William Byrd’s report published this week by the United States Institute of Peace. The answers are predictably complex, but the first and most important step is simple: the government must end its perpetual dysfunction and unify in the face of a “national crisis”. That’s a tall order in any country, and even more challenging in factionalised Afghanistan. But Byrd argues that it’s essential for the politicians to start worki...