Leading figures from Afghanistan, including Dr. Zia Nezam, Afghan ambassador to the EU and NATO, General Atiqullah Baryalai, former Deputy Defense Minister for the Northern Alliance, and Mr. Hekmat Karzai, director of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies, suggested next steps to be taken to ensure more coordinated international and local operations and sustainable security in Afghanistan and the region.

 Key points discussed at this EWI Study Group were:

• goals and tactics of military operations (the need for a unified counter-insurgency strategy)
• command and control arrangements for ISAF military operations (the system is very weak)
• intelligence training of Afghan forces (almost non-existent)
• honest evaluations of the waste and low efficiency in development funding
• the serious imbalance between funding for development assistance and much higher levels of funding for military operations
• the serious imbalance between attention to Kabul and the poorer conflict-prone provinces.

A detailed, private report with recommendations will be presented to the study group, and security and stability in Afghanistan will be a key topic of a high level event (by invitation only) to be held in Brussels on 17 February.