The Qoshtepa Canal project represents one of the most significant infrastructure undertakings in Afghanistan in decades, aiming to transform the country’s northern agricultural landscape. However, the project also raises pressing concerns about regional water security, potential cross-border conflicts, and environmental degradation.
On December 5, the Center for the National Interest launched its latest report, "Afghanistan’s Qoshtepa Canal and Water Security in Central Asia." This report argues that efforts by the incoming Trump administration to provide technical assistance and facilitate regional diplomacy could help reduce the risks of conflict, mitigate environmental harm, and strengthen American influence in this geopolitically critical region.
Speakers:
—Andrew Kuchins is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National interest and Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Previously he served as President of the American University of Central Asia as well as senior positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
—Elvira Aidarkhanova is a Research Associate at the Center for the National Interest. She has contributed to various research initiatives in international relations and has held communications roles in both Kazakhstan’s private and public sectors, as well as in think tanks in the United States. She holds a Master of Arts in Human Science and an MBA, and she is currently a PhD candidate in International Relations.
—Najibullah Sadid is a senior researcher on water resources, environment and climate change based in Germany. He has a master degree and a PhD on water resource management from the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems (IWS), University of Stuttgart. He has worked as a researcher for the University of Stuttgart from 2013 to 2019 and for Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute from 2019 to 2023. He is currently advisor for climate change and flood protection to the State Office for Environment in Federal State Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
Discussant:
—Erika Weinthal is the John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professor at Duke University, specializing in global environmental politics and environmental security with a particular emphasis on water and energy. Dr. Weinthal was a founding Vice President of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. In 2017 she was a recipient of the Women Peacebuilders for Water Award under the auspices of “Fondazione Milano per Expo 2015”.
Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, moderated the discussion.
