David Mansfield

  • Two satellite maps showing a meth lab in Bakwa, Farah, Afghanistan, still functioning despite a downturn in both oman and meth prices and recent interdiction efforts
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    Long Read: The unknown unknowns of Afghanistan’s new wave of methamphetamine production

Long Read: The unknown unknowns of Afghanistan’s new wave of methamphetamine production

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Recent years have seen a massive upswing in the production of ephedra and methamphetamine from the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan. David Mansfield, the Organisation for Sustainable Development and Research and Alex Soderholm give a detailed account of how methamphetamine is produced from its precursor plant, oman, and distributed across Afghanistan and beyond into Iran and Pakistan. What we […]

September 30th, 2019|Alexander Soderholm, David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|3 Comments|
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    New US airstrikes obscure a dramatic development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine 

New US airstrikes obscure a dramatic development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine 

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Earlier this month US and Afghan forces bombed 68 drugs labs in South-western Afghanistan, claiming that they caused the Taliban losses of over $1 million per day. David Mansfield and Alexander Soderholm write that not only have the effects of these strikes been exaggerated, their promotion obscures a new reality on the ground: a dramatic growth in the methamphetamine […]

May 28th, 2019|Alexander Soderholm, David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
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    Despite claims to the contrary, US air raids against Afghanistan’s drugs labs have had little to no impact

Despite claims to the contrary, US air raids against Afghanistan’s drugs labs have had little to no impact

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In 2017 and 2018 US forces based in Afghanistan mounted air raids against drug processing facilities. While it was hoped that targeting these facilities would starve the Taliban of revenue – much as similar operations against Islamic State in Syria had done previously – new research from David Mansfield concludes that this has not been the case, despite their very high cost. Using a […]

April 25th, 2019|David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|1 Comment|
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