2007 – Roland Paris
The alliance of nations trying to keep Afghanistan from reverting to a haven for terrorists needs to “go big or get out” if it is serious about solving the problem.
So says Roland Paris, associate professor of public and international affairs at University of Ottawa and winner of the 2007 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.
NATO needs to shift its strategy in Afghanistan or face failure there, said Paris, author of the award-winning book, “At War’s End: Building Peace After Civil Conflict.”
Destroying poppy crops is not slowing insurgency in Afghanistan, said Paris, who has worked as a foreign policy adviser and think tank director in Canada. Instead, NATO should focus on training police in the country, rooting out official corruption, building a competent Afghan army and stemming the flow of Taliban fighters from Pakistan.
If the alliance cannot do these things, it should withdraw, Paris said.
About Roland Paris
Roland Paris is widely considered an expert in international security, international governance and foreign policy.
A native of Canada, he holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, a master’s of philosophy degree from Cambridge University and a doctor of philosophy degree from Yale University.
His Grawemeyer Award-winning book, “At War’s End: Building Peace After Civil Conflict” was published in 2004 by Cambridge University Press. The book has claimed two other prizes, including the 2005 Chadwick Alger Prize from the International Studies Association for best book on multilateralism.
Paris joined the University of Ottawa in June as associate professor of public and international affairs. There, he co-directs the Research Partnership on Postwar State-Building, a collaborative research project funded by the Carnegie Corporation involving 14 scholars from six countries.
In 2003, he began serving as foreign policy adviser to the Canadian government, winning two public service awards for his work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Privy Council Office. He also has served as director of research for Conference Board of Canada, the country’s largest think tank.
From 1998 to 2003, he won three teaching prizes as assistant professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Before that, he spent a year as visiting researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, served as a constitutional policy adviser in the Canadian Privy Council and worked as a parliamentary intern in Ottawa.
He is co-editing a book series on security and governance and his articles have appeared in leading academic journals, including International Security and International Studies Quarterly.
