Farid Ahmad Farzam Rahimi

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU)

Japan

farzam_rahimi2000@yahoo.com

The impact of security and regional integration on poverty reduction in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT. Afghanistan has 6 neighbors: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (to the north), Iran (to the West), Pakistan (to the South-East), and China (to the remote East). Intervention and continuous war as well as insecurity are the main thematic areas of poverty in Afghanistan. Moreover, in many cases, poverty in Afghanistan is mainly affected by economic and political policies of neighboring countries. There- fore, lack of economic and political integration at the regional level has increased the poverty in Afghanistan.

By any measure such as per capita income, life expectancy, health, education, welfare, or freedom, Afghanistan is a very poor country. This paper discusses poverty and the dimensions of poverty in Afghanistan. In addition, this paper presents ways to reduce poverty through providing security and regional integration with neighboring countries.

Received: February, 2015

1st Revision: April, 2015

Accepted: May, 2015

DOI: 10.14254/2071-

8330.2015/8-1/16

JEL Classification: H56, I32, R13

Keywords: : Poverty, Poverty Reduction, Security, Regional Integration