Topic: The Situation in Afghanistan
Country: Italy
Delegate Name: Lea Schmitt
School: East Grand Rapids High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Italy position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
Afghanistan’s war is fueled by support from within Pakistan for Taliban insurgents, and by poor governance within Afghanistan, including entrenched patronage systems and corruption, and a weak rule of law. The withdrawal of international combat troops between 2011 and 2014 left a fragile security environment and a struggling national economy. Since the disputed 2014 presidential election, friction between the two halves of the “National Unity Government” has prevented the government from implementing widely supported reforms, notably against corruption. This has deepened public discontent and questions over the government’s legitimacy. Over 100,000 unaccompanied Afghan minors, almost all of them male and generally between 14 and 17 years of age, applied for asylum in Europe between 2008 and 2016, making Afghanistan the single largest country of origin for this group of refugees. While Germany and Sweden received by far the highest number of applications, Italy became an important staging post in the long journey to other European destinations. Therefore this issue has strongly affected Italy. Italy will send more troops to Afghanistan, becoming the first Nato member in Europe to answer Barack Obama's call for reinforcements to fight the Taliban. The Italian government may also drop restrictions on the deployment of its soldiers, the Guardian has learned. There are 2,000 Italian troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the western province of Herat. That will be increased to 2,800 this year, according to European diplomats. An announcement is expected soon.
