Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration and the Compensated Eradication Plan: The United States and NATO’s Counternarcotics Strategies in the War in Afghanistan from 2001-2005

Authors

• Sungu A. Flottman, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow

Files

Abstract

Starting in the late 1980s, Afghanistan was a major source of opium production, until the ban on opium in 2000, when Afghanistan’s share in the world’s supply of opium decreased. The United States’ intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 removed this ban on opium, which indicates that the United States may not have been prioritized stopping the narcotics trade. Consequently, the task of counternarcotics fell to the British. The question then becomes whether the British counternarcotics strategies were effective in curbing the Afghan narcotics trade, which may reveal the possible complacency behind the United States intervention in Afghanistan. Current research on this topic covers in detail the corruption and narcotics in Afghanistan, as well as the Western intervention in Afghanistan. This paper aims to understand what effect this Western intervention may have had on narcotics and corruption in Afghanistan. This paper examines academic sources that discuss the United States’ apparent apathy toward the opium problem as well as Britain’s failed counternarcotics experiment in Afghanistan, which attempted to use compensated eradication to stop the decades-long habit of opium production and trade. Articles regarding Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs in Afghanistan and DDR’s effects on corruption and narcotics in Afghanistan are also examined. This paper discusses the unintended consequences of counternarcotics and nation-building policies of the United States and Britian and examines the efficacy of these problems, which may lead future policies to counter corruption and narcotics simultaneously. Answering these questions may add to the larger discussion surrounding the United States’ involvement in foreign territory.

Publication Date

2026

Subject Major(s)

Political Science

Keywords

Afghanistan, Counternarcotics, DDR, Narcotics, US Intervention.

Disciplines

Political Science

Current Academic Year

Junior

Faculty Advisor/Mentor

Mary Boyes

Rights

© The Author(s)