Afghanistan’s presidential election is not likely to resolve the nation’s serious economic and security problems, Tsinghua University visiting professor Rick Dunham told China Central Television on April 3.

Appearing on CCTV’s “Dialogue” program with host Tian Wei, Dunham predicted a large turnout for the April 5 elections in Afghanistan but said that extremist violence was likely to continue as the United States and NATO troops leave the country later this year.

“I do think there will be a spike in violence,” said Dunham, the co-director of Tsinghua’s Global Business Journalism program. “It’s a delicate balance right now. Over the past decade, the West – the United States, the NATO forces – have not secured Afghanistan. The question is, when you have fewer Western troops, there will be more or the same amount of instability?”

Dunham covered the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks launched by Afghanistan-based terrorists and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for Business Week magazine. The Afghanistan conflict, which has lasted for 13 years so far, is America’s longest war in its 238-year history. A recent poll indicated that about 70 percent of Americans say the Afghanistan war had not achieved its objectives.

“It’s a remarkable number,” Dunham told the CCTV audience. “Republicans and Democrats agree. They agree on almost nothing in the United States. But they both agree that this was not a success. All they see is a huge amount of money spent, a lot of people killed. They don’t see Afghanistan any better than it was then.”

Professor Dunham has made nine appearances on “Dialogue” since September. He has discussed topics including the evolving U.S.-China relationship, the National Security Agency spy scandal, last year’s U.S. government shutdown, the Syrian civil war and Iran’s nuclear program.

Tian Wei, one of China’s leading journalists, was a guest speaker in Professor Dunham’s Multimedia Business Journalism course during the fall semester.

http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/dialogue/01/index.shtml