The New York Times posted an article yesterday on the discovery of nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan. The minerals involved are iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium. This is very good news and very bad news. It is good news because the development of these mineral deposits will provide an alternative to the current economic structure of Afghanistan which is based on the opium trade. This could potentially, a few years down the road, put the poppies out of business. This is bad news because of the rampant corruption in the Afghan government. This could evolve into a Saudi Arabia type society where the wealth and power are concentrated among a very small number of people and the majority of the people live in poverty.
There are a lot of potential problems with this discovery. Will the value of Afghanistan's minerals give the Taliban more incentive to continue fighting? Will the value of Afghanistan's minerals bring the country back to its tribal roots--with tribal leaders fighting the federal government over income derived in specific locations? Will this discovery encourage involvement in Afghanistan by countries other than the United States and NATO, countries that might not have an agenda of a free, well-governed Afghanistan?
Stay tuned.
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