At a conference intended to renew international support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, the issues of security, illegal drugs and corruption topped the agenda.

In Paris on June 12 Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented his government’s five-year national development strategy to the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in hopes of surpassing the $10.5 billion in international aid pledged at the 2006 London conference to continue Afghanistan’s recovery.

But getting the pledges is only the first step; delivering that aid continues to be a challenge, with the road to Afghan recovery blocked by enormous potholes in the form of violence, narcotics trafficking and corruption of law enforcement personnel and government officials. (See “Afghan Government Charts Challenges.”)

Half a world away, at a different international meeting, that same set of problems got a different kind of attention as representatives to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States noted the dramatic progress Colombia has made against violence and narco-trafficking.

“We have witnessed a transformation of our hemisphere,” said Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, and “no country embodies this transformation more than Colombia.” (See “Western Hemisphere Meeting Showcases Progress in Colombia.” )

Are there lessons from Colombia’s experience that can be useful in Afghanistan, or is the situation – cultural, historical and political – too different for the same approaches to work?