Jul 12, 2010

On 6th of July 2010, the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) hosted Mr. Stefano Sannini, the European Commission’s Deputy Director General of External Services for Asia and Latin America, Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, the Special Representative and Head of European Union Delegation for Afghanistan, Mr. Paul Turner, EU Commission Desk Officer for Afghanistan, Ms. Egle Digryte, Press and Communication Officer for the Special Representative of the EU for Afghanistan, and Mr. Romaine Poirot-lellig, Political Adviser for EU in Kabul. The purpose of the visit by the EU delegation was to become acquainted with CAPS initiatives, projects and staff.
Ms. Mariam Safi, Research Fellow at CAPS presented a profile of CAPS outlining some of the center’s activities and functions, especially its efforts in the areas of research, analysis and education/training.
Following Ms. Safi, Director of CAPS, Mr. Hekmat Karzai presented an Afghan perspective on Counter-Insurgency (COIN) in the context of Afghanistan. Main topics covered in the meeting were classical counter-insurgency tactics, lessons learned from past insurgencies, overview of actor in the insurgency and success and failures of COIN.
The delegation showed much interest in CAPS Provincial Assessments, electronic Newsletter, Violent Actor’s Profile, as well as CAPS Weekly and Monthly Reports. The EU delegation also found the training courses CAPS has designed for embassies and foreign military personnel as critical to the war efforts in Afghanistan and very relevant to the EU’s mission in Afghanistan.