e-Ariana
11/09/2007
By Roohullah Rahimi

Part One:

There have been significant positive developments in Afghanistan in the past six years. Some of the more noticeable include, the successful Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the establishment of more or less successful governance structures, the multitude of development and reconstruction projects, the prioritization and conceptualization of the development needs of Afghanistan through the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, the establishment of the Afghan National Army and police, and the financial rehabilitation of the Afghan economy. Nonetheless, the challenges that remain get most of the attention and for the right reasons, as we cannot dwell on the success stories for too long before reality sinks in.

The bluntness exhibited in the following stipulations might not befit the politically correct stance of many in the filed, but I am applying my personal judgments, and would like to use this opportunity to state some politically incorrect realities that are often overlooked in policy discourse.

It is imperative that Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan is seen in light of the geopolitical significance of Afghanistan as a doorway to strategically important territories of Central Asia and the increasing importance of Iran as a regional power. We are not assuming any impending conflict between the US and Iran, nonetheless the foreign presence in Afghanistan within the context of US-Iran relations must figure into any analysis of Afghanistan and from this point of reference, we begin our discussion..

Afghanistan has seduced many world powers with its geographical position as a country often in crossroads to riches. Be it Alexander the Great attempting to go to Central Asia, or the Mongols on route to India, or the Soviet Union wanting to taste the warm waters of the Indian ocean; Afghanistan has often been the place that would have completed a perfect empire. Geography, however, is not constant; Afghanistan’s political significance has oscillated with historical developments since the end of the great game (the battle for central Asia between Russia and Great Britain). In the past, when the silk routes passing through the territory enriched cities like Balkh and Herat, this geographic position had functioned to the advantage of the inhabitants of the country. However, since Afghanistan assumed its significance as a buffer state between empires, it has often been a mere battle ground for the proxy wars of external interest groups to the extreme detriment of its inhabitants.

Despite Afghanistan’s periodic significance to various powers, the political significance of Afghanistan exercised few minds in the West before December 27, 1979, when the Soviet army began its airborne and armoured assault southward across the Amu river from Central Asia into Afghanistan. The country became the ultimate and final victim of the Cold War. Prior to Da’ud as Prime Minister, Afghanistan had attempted to remain neutral in WWII and the ensuing Cold War. However, this became increasingly difficult as Afghanistan’s relations with Pakistan deteriorated and the period of détente brought less aid from either party. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s fractious relations with Pakistan compelled it to seek aid from the Soviet Union as it was evident that the US was firmly on the side of Pakistan on the issue of Pashtunistan. This rickety relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan continues to be an impediment to security and development in Afghanistan.

Part Two:

NATO’s mission in Afghanistan not only signifies the frontline against Al Qaeda, but also signals the renewed importance that Afghanistan has gained in the context of potential future focal points, namely Iran and the Central Asian Republics. We do not want to sound too presumptuous, however, suffice to say that Afghanistan’s present geopolitical dominance is not only due to its status as the frontline in the US led war against terrorism. NATO’s role in Afghanistan within this multifaceted context is further evidence of the renewed importance of Afghanistan to western conceptions of security and strategic alliances. The formation of the coalition of the willing against Al Qaeda was not a mere show of solidarity of the US allies, it was an attempt by the US and its allies to consolidate their foothold at the door step of Central Asia. Within this context, Canada’s participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan is in perfect concord with its relations with the US and by extension Canada’s geo-strategic interests in the region.

We are well aware of the current situation in Afghanistan, what might be needed is a concise understanding of the troubles of Afghanistan since the invasion of the Soviet Union and how that period relates to the current situation. Therefore, before we indulge into a discussion of the development challenges of Afghanistan, it is imperative that we briefly analyze the contemporary conflict patterns which have so thoroughly dominated the Afghanistan agenda of most countries. To better understand the impact of the war in Afghanistan, we can divide the war into three phases and its impact can be defined as all encompassing. The initial phase of the war in Afghanistan was the resistance period from 1979-1989 against the USSR backed communist regime. During this period, the war was primarily fought in rural areas partly as a consequence of the communist government’s determination to implement rural reform. It follows that this concentration of resistance severely damaged rural areas. Traditionally, the rural areas have been a major source of income for the majority of Afghans particularly those who depend on the agriculture sector. Due to shortage of space and time the author will only claim, and it is well documented, that this phase of war was a major cause of displacement, environmental degradation, human casualties, and financial loss for the people of Afghanistan. It is enough to say that the legacy of this period of the protracted war continues to challenge both the international community and the Karzai administration in their development efforts.

The Second phase of the war was the civil war between the different factions of the resistance groups to the USSR which lasted from 1992 to 1996. During this period the conflict was primarily focused but not limited to urban centers, whereby most of the Afghan urban centers as well as rural areas were destroyed. This period of war also caused massive displacement and most importantly it further enflamed the fragile national cohesion and solidarity that existed between the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The different parties involved in the civil war adopted an ethnic identity, which more or less transformed the war into a civil war between the different ethic groups. Another important adverse impact of this phase of the conflict was the destruction of the governance apparatus as well as the physical infrastructure, which was further damaged during the Taliban regime.

The third phase of war was the period from 1996-2001, during which the Taliban ruled most of the country. Even though this period did not have the same level of fighting, it exacerbated damages to the country. This period had a major impact on the psyche of the population; such as constant harassment of the people to live a distorted and manipulated version of Islamic life. It is well noted that the Taliban regime was responsible for many injustices to minority groups, particularly women. Furthermore, the ethnic agenda was never discarded. Suffice to say that the Taliban were not known for their accommodation of the non-Pashtun ethnic groups. The divisions between the ethnic groups were further pronounced by deliberate policies of Taliban against non-Pashtun ethnic groups highlighted by the Taliban incursions into the Shomali plains north of Kabul.

An important yet disturbing contribution of the Taliban to this protracted episode of destruction in Afghanistan was their policies towards cultural symbols such as the Buddha statues and other important artifacts. This policy can only be identified as ‘identicide’ whereby groups deliberately attempt to destroy national symbols as a means of cultural domination. We will not venture into the reasons behind such Taliban policies as this would take us beyond the scope of this analysis.

The impact of the protracted period of war beginning with the communist coup and culminating with the US intervention and the trauma of the most recent decades of conflict will have a significant impact on the development of Afghanistan as a unified entity, the resistance to the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war has heightened internal ethnic and social difference to a high point which leaves the door open for a plethora of eventualities, including the disintegration of the country.

Major Challenges:

Part Three

Exploring the challenges confronting the development of Afghanistan requires us to delineate the different spheres of influence in the country into the internal and external dimensions of activity in Afghanistan. The internal dimension of the challenges comprises the developmental hurdles emanating from domestic actors and these impediments existed before Afghanistan became the frontline state in the war on international terrorism. These challenges include the problems arising from the ethnic fragility of the country such as, among other issues, an emerging North-South divide and the insurgency as a tool of Pashtun discontent with the present distribution of power. Other manifestation of the continuing challenges include, the appalling literacy rates, bureaucratic inefficiency, an inefficient justice sector, ill equipped police force and so forth. The development program in Afghanistan is a long term undertaking, therefore the establishment of the police forces as well as other developments mentioned in the opening paragraph might be success stories, however, and the development of these institutions into efficient government entities, void of endemic corruption is the continuing challenge that confronts both the Government of Afghanistan and the international community. .

The external dimension of the development challenges of Afghanistan is largely due to a lack of donor sensitivity and understanding of the internal complexities of the Afghan society. Another external dimension is Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy which has enormous implications to Afghanistan. It is widely believed that elements within the Government of Pakistan are actively engaged in supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan. While these accusations might border conspiracy, nonetheless the development of cordial relations between the two governments could have a significant positive impact on internal developments in Afghanistan.

One element, however, that defies this division between the internal and external is the growing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. This growth underlines and epitomizes the challenges that confront the Government of Afghanistan, as the poppy business feeds the insurgency, the endemic corruption within the government and warlordism – solidifying the iron triangle of present day Afghanistan.

Attempting to confront the development challenges of Afghanistan will require confronting both the internal and external dimensions of these challenges. Furthermore, what is needed is a synchronicity between the donor community and the Government of Afghanistan in terms of their efforts to resolve these challenges. The following are a thematic categorization of the various barriers to development in Afghanistan.

Ethnic

On an interethnic level, the recent political upheavals have levelled the playing field in interethnic relationships, perhaps to the permanent disadvantage of the Pashtuns. Tajiks and the other significant ethnic minorities, buoyed by many years of virtual self-rule and memories of Pashtun domination and civil war show few signs of accepting Pashtun political superiority. The positive impact of this could potentially mean more equitable distribution of power, economic opportunity, and social integration. The negative impact may well involve continued civil war, increasingly conducted with other ethnic groups united against the Pashtuns who insist on reestablishment of the status quo ante. It is difficult to draw any conclusions about the outcome of this struggle which is ensuing at the moment through a dual-track of insurgency and peaceful political wrangling; nonetheless it deserves particular attention as a major challenge to the donor community and the Government of Afghanistan and might well be the underlying reason for the strengthening of the insurgency.

Experts have cautioned that nation-building may be hindered by overly zealous external administrators who insist upon establishing the rule of law before domestic actors are permitted to play out their political differences. This is particularly true in the immediate post-Taliban period in Afghanistan. Several commanders with massive public support in their particular areas were forced out of power by the coalition forces in favour of a weak police force: A case in point is Mullah Sher Muhammad in Helmand and Mullah Jan Muhammad in Uruzgan. More importantly however, the coalition failed to take the advice of the Government of Afghanistan on this exact point. Western conceptions of human rights aiming towards turning Afghanistan into a righteous society must be put on hold for the moment, it is imperative that other more impending challenges be confronted before focusing on the more mundane tasks.

The continuing insurgency

The resilience of the insurgency in Afghanistan has surprised many due to its tenacity and longevity. Buoyed by initial success, the international forces became sanguine in their outlook and failed to capitalize on the virtual defeat of the Taliban and their Al Qaeda sympathizers. This allowed the insurgency time and room to regroup and assume a national resistance veneer which allowed them to mobilize support from certain elements within the Pashtun south in Afghanistan and the tribal agencies in Pakistan. The continuing insurgency is the single most threatening opposition to the Government of Afghanistan in particular, and the international community in general. It is imperative that the insurgency is dealt with by any means necessary including political accommodation. Needless to say, dealing with the insurgency has particular implications for the development and reconstruction efforts of the Government of Afghanistan and the donor community.

Disenfranchisement

Broken by incessant war, civil society is almost non-present. Due to the tribulations that the country went through and continues to go through, this functionally important element of the society has virtually disappeared and has taken with it any input that the people might have towards public policy. In my opinion, disenfranchisement of the civil society is one of the chief development challenges of Afghanistan which must be addressed as a means of ensuring long term stability of the country.

This leads us to the important upcoming summit organized by the Center for Policy Priorities - an Afghan led think tank dedicated to engaging professional afghan youth from across the globe in public policy discourse in Afghanistan. The inaugural summit is in Kabul on November 20-22 and will bring together Afghan professionals from across the world on a discussion dealing with eliminating disenfranchisement and promoting civil society participation in policy discourse. The author will have the privilege of attending this summit as a delegate from Canada.

Conclusion

Afghanistan’s geographic position has contributed the single most important element to the shaping of its history, its ethnic diversity, its economy, and its political situation in the region and increasingly in the world. In contemporary times, the geography of Afghanistan has been a curse for the country and as a buffer state the country has been used as a battle ground for proxy wars. Afghanistan’s renewed importance since September 11th has put it in the spotlight once more, and as of yet the implications of this renewed significance have so not been fully determined.

Suffice to say that outside actors and administrators must have a nuanced appreciation for the history and contemporary political aspirations of a country’s various factions. It is imperative that the donor countries stop treating Afghanistan as a ‘blanket policy’ situation, where they attempt to start institution building from scratch, without paying attention to the historical and social legacies of the country.

<i>Roohullah Rahimi is a graduate of political science and international relations from Carleton University and currently work as a private consultant.</i>]