US needs Afghan plan with regional players: Experts

LONDON: The United States needs a more cunning strategy on Afghanistan, with Russia, Iran, China and others brought into the policy debate if it is to achieve long-term success, a leading think-tank said yesterday.

Launching its annual review of world affairs, the International Institute for Strategic Studies argued that, amid declining public support for the war in both the United States and Europe, more combat troops on the ground coupled with aid and political reform was not a sufficient strategy.

"A more cunning regional strategy is also necessary," John Chipman, the head of the IISS, said at the unveiling of the 2009 Strategic Survey in London.