This paper investigated the use of the One Belt One Road initiative (BRI) as a policy model that might address the insufficiencies of the traditional development aid model in reconstructing and developing Afghanistan. Afghanistan has emerged as one of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected countries, and it has gained the attention of both academic and political communities since the early 2000s. The materials for this article are based partly on a thorough analysis of the available documentation. The authors also conducted interviews with high-ranking political elites and policy officials in the Afghan government and international organizations. The study employed a purposive sampling method to identify people with firsthand information on how to sustain economic development in Afghanistan. This paper provides new insights by comparing the traditional development aid model and the BRI in terms of social economy, local security and regional economic development. The aim of this research is to evaluate whether the BRI can remedy the insufficiencies of the traditional development aid model in order to sustain development in Afghanistan. The findings provide a better understanding of the BRI in promoting the internal dynamism required to develop the regional economy, and fill a gap in the literature with regard to the applied and theoretical economic growth models for stabilizing and sustaining the development of fragile and conflict-affected states.

President Donald Trump’s vision for US foreign policy can be summed up in two words: “America First” and isolationism. In the name of national interests, Trump’s America has not only treated its...