Master Thesis
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Master’s Thesis 2018 30 ECTS Faculty of Landscape and Society (LANDSAM) Gry Synnevåg Lessons Learned from the Context of State-Building in Afghanistan Sigrid Simensen Master of Science in International Relations Faculty of International Development and Environment Studies (Noragric) i “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” -Martin Luther King Jr ii The Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, is the international gateway for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Eight departments, associated research institutions and the Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine in Oslo. Established in 1986, Noragric’s contribution to international development lies in the interface between research, education (Bachelor, Master and PhD programmes) and assignments. The Noragric Master theses are the final theses submitted by students in order to fulfil the requirements under the Noragric Master programme “International Environmental Studies”, “International Development Studies” and “International Relations”. The findings in this thesis do not necessarily reflect the views of Noragric. Extracts from this publication may only be reproduced after prior consultation with the author and on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation contact Noragric. © Sigrid Simensen, June 2018, [email protected] Noragric Department of International Environment and Development Studies P.O. Box 5003 N-1432 Ås Norway Tel.: +47 67 23 00 00 Internet: https://www.nmbu.no/om/fakulteter/samvit/institutter/noragric iii Declaration I, Sigrid Simensen, declare that this thesis is a result of my research investigations and findings. Sources of information other than my own have been acknowledged and a reference list has been appended. This work has not been previously submitted to any other university for award of any type of academic degree. Signature…………………………………… Date………………………………………… iv Acknowledgements Two years at NMBU have come to an end. Writing a thesis in International Relations has provided me with important insights about world affairs and world politics. At times it has been challenging, yet I feel grateful for all the meaningful knowledge it has given me. I am also grateful for the good advice and guidance my two supervisors, Gry Synnevåg and Karim Merchant has given me. Particularly Karim´s deep knowledge about Afghanistan has been invaluable for this research. Moreover, I want to thank my supervisors for encouragement and assistance when I have faced difficulties. I would also like to thank Finn Kristian Hannestad for putting me in contact with Mari Skåre. Furthermore, I want to thank Mari Skåre for taking the time to be interviewed, her reflections contributed to meaningful insights for the research. Last, I must thank my friends and family for their patience, support and love throughout the research and writing process. I would especially like to thank my classmate Ida Louise Rudolph and my close friend Ellen Birgette Folgerø, for keeping me motivated at critical moments. Without them I would not have been able to complete this research. My cousin Didrik Rinde also deserves a special thanks for taking the time to read through the thesis and helping me with the language. Sigrid v Abstract State-building is a popular approach to help states out of state weakness and state failure. Yet, state-building efforts have a long way to go to achieve desirable results. Reasons for inadequate state-building success have been discussed and assessed by many scholars before me. Commonly, lack of success is blamed on deeply embedded traditional structures, patronage politics and persistent insurgency. Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCASs), where state-building measures are adopted, generally suffer from various internal problems, such as high levels of poverty, violent conflicts, derailed economies and widespread illiteracy. Conducting state-building in FCASs is therefore a difficult task. In Afghanistan, different state-building efforts by various national and international actors have been conducted for nearly two decades, yet Afghanistan still suffers from high levels of insurgency, weak democratic institutions and a weak economy. Through a case study of state-building efforts in Afghanistan, this research explores what impact Afghanistan´s local context has had on state-building efforts. Moreover, the study analyses how different stakeholders contributes to state-building and to what extent they acknowledge local context when carrying out certain state-building efforts. The thesis reveals that state-building efforts in Afghanistan have not been tailored adequately to the local context, and that this has constrained state-building´s success. Deeply embedded traditional structures and forms for governance have been a major challenge to the goals envisioned by state-building policies. The thesis explains then how future state-building policies can benefit from using local context as a starting point and discusses whether traditional structures and patronage politics can be used as an asset in state-building efforts vi Abbreviations ANA Afghan National Army ANDS Afghan National Development Strategy ASP Afghan Stabilisation Programme CN Counter Narcotics COIN Counterinsurgency DAD Development Assistance Database DDP District Delivery Program DDR Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration DPT Democratic Peace Theory EC European Commission EU European Union FCASs Fragile and Conflict Affected States GDP Gross Domestic Product GPI Good Performers Initiative GoIRA Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ICRC International Committee for Red Cross IDLG Independent Directorate of Local Governance vii IMF International Monetary Fund ISAF International Security and Assistance Forces MRRD Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations NSP National Solidarity Programme ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and Development OEF Operation Enduring Freedom PDPA People´s Democratic Party of Afghanistan PRTs Provincial Reconstruction Teams SAPs Structural Adjustment Programs SIGAR Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction SNTV Single non-transferable vote USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics UN United Nations UNSC United Nations Security Council US United States viii WB The World Bank WOT War on Terror WW2 Second World War ix Tables Table 1. Data Collection Table 2. Five Dimensions of Fragility Table 3. Heads of State and their Contributions to the Afghan State Table 4. Ethnic and Tribal Groups and their Size x Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... v Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. vii Tables ............................................................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Thematic Background ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Introducing the Case: Afghanistan .................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Objective and Research Questions ........................................................................ 4 2.1 Objective of the Paper: ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Problem Statement: ........................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................... 4 2.4 Structure of the Paper ........................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 3: Research Methodology ........................................................................................... 6 3.1 The Qualitative Research Approach .................................................................................................. 6 3.2 Qualitative Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Quality in Qualitative Research ......................................................................................................... 7 3.3.1 Criteria for Evaluating Quality: Trustworthiness ...................................................................... 7 3.4 Research Design – Case Study .......................................................................................................... 8 3.4.1 Data Collection .......................................................................................................................... 9 3.4.2 Secondary Data .......................................................................................................................