Throughout 2010, as a new strategy is implemented in Afghanistan, the Institute for the Study of War’s (ISW) Afghanistan Project will continue to monitor and analyze the effectiveness of Afghan and Coalition operations to disrupt enemy networks and secure the population, while also evaluating the results of Afghanistan’s 2009 Presidential election and preparation for the 2010 parliamentary election.

The Afghanistan Project remains focused on the main enemy groups in Afghanistan, specifically: the Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin.

ISW research analysts will continue to document the pattern of enemy activity in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan; the spread of enemy networks into western and northern Afghanistan; and military operations by Coalition and Afghan forces. Specific attention will be paid to understanding the ethnic, tribal, and political dynamics within these areas and how these factors are manipulated by the enemy and misunderstood by the Coalition.

In 2010, ISW will also launch a research project to analyze the Taliban’s information operations (IO) campaign and present more effective strategies to counter enemy propaganda. The 2010 research agenda will continue to evolve as the troop increase and campaign plan are implemented by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).