CGM Insights

Afghanistan remains stuck in political deadlock under Taliban control—no inclusive governance, no discernible pathway for reform, and limited if any progress toward peace. This brief outlines how Afghanistan’s post- 2001 experience produced valuable democratic lessons, even amid dysfunction, and offers a way forward: a transition led by a new generation of educated, exiled Afghan technocrats. These individuals, untainted by past political failures, are best positioned to help build an inclusive government through a decentralized model that reflects Afghanistan’s diversity and reduces ethnic tensions. The international community, especially the United States and its partners, must play a key role in facilitating this transition.

Limitations in the prevailing measures hamper the accurate evaluation of the domestic artificial intelligence (AI) workforce. Accelerating the timeline for revising the Standard Occupational Classification system to create a technical AI occupational category could increase the prospects that AI policies will improve AI competitiveness, especially through more granular measures of the way AI is changing the nature of jobs. While AI is unquestionably a future foundation for national security and economic competitiveness in the United States during the digital era, American interests will be best served by a deliberate, measured, and data-driven workforce policy that builds on national strengths.

This policy brief discusses the European Union Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (Regulation 2023/1115). As the EU is a major market for commodities driving global deforestation and forest degradation, the regulation is a critical step toward reducing the bloc’s environmental footprint and aligning trade with sustainability goals. A result of years of struggle, bargaining, and negotiation between different stakeholder groups, the regulation is as necessary as it is potentially problematic if smallholder farmers’ demands are not considered. The analysis suggests that, while closing regulatory gaps around the legality and sustainability of the forest and agricultural commodities supply chain is unquestionably urgent, the policy’s effectiveness and the justice it attempts to impart will be best served by addressing key demands of targeted communities at the local level and supporting them in the implementation phase, rather than by adopting a punitive approach.