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Conference Proceedings Edited by Noreen Naseer and Aamer Raza 8th & 9th International Conferences THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN REGION: POLITICS, (DIS)INTEGRATION AND REFORMATION IN THE BORDERLAND 2019 & 2020 Organized by DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR In Collaboration with HANNS SEIDEL FOUNDATION (HSF) PAKISTAN at BARA GALI SUMMER CAMPUS UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR CONTENTS S. No. Topic Page No. 1. Disclaimer 1 2 Development Conundrum: Horizontal Inequalities and Unending Conflict on the 5 Pashtun Borderland Asif Iqbal Dawar 3 The Borders that Cross People: Differentiating Between the Pashtuns of Afghanistan 21 and The Pashtuns of Pakistan Prof. Dr. Mujtaba Ali Isani 4 The Geopolitics of Afghanistan and Its Impact on the Peace Processes 38 Dr. Mujahid Hussain Sargana Dr. Tauqeer Hussain Sargan Dr. Adam Saud 5 Coordinated Border Management (CBM): A Sentinel Approach to Contain 58 Asymmetric Warfare after Fencing at Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Dr. Sehrish Qayyum 6 Militant Demobilization and Reintegration in the Pashtun Belt of Pakistan 71 Dr. Muhammad Irfan Mahsud 7 Impact of Expected US Exit from Afghanistan on South Asian Militant Landscape 78 Abdul Basit 8 State-Building in Balochistan: Legitimacy and State-Society Relations 89 Bakht Noor Khan 9 The Afghan Endgame: Prospects and Challenges for US-Pakistan Relations 104 Prof. Dr. Mujtaba Ali Isani 10 Reaping dividends of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): Addressing 115 Governance and Institutional Challenges Murad Ali 11 God, Charity, Reciprocity and Local Governance: The case of Zakat and Daswandh 129 in the Social Welfare Provision in Pakistan. Dr. Muhammad Salman Khan 12 Pakistan’s Aid to Afghanistan Since 2001 and Its Prospects for State Building in 148 Afghanistan Hashmat Ullah Khan & Gohar Rahman 13 The Influence of International Public Opinion on the Border Management in 160 Pakistan-Afghanistan Region JIANG Sheng 14 Challenges to US-Afghan Policy: Obama vs. Trump Administration 175 Dr. Asma Rashid, Ms. Samman Fatima Disclaimer This publication is based on the papers presented by the authors in the 8th and 9th International conferences on “The Dynamics of Change in the Pakistan-Afghanistan Region: Politics, (Dis)integration and Reformation in the Borderland” organized by the Department of Political Science, University of Peshawar in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan in 2019 and 2020. The opinions expressed in these publications are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of Department of Political Science, University of Peshawar and HSF Pakistan. 1 Introduction Like many great ideas, the foundational concept “The Dynamics of Change in the Pakistan-Afghanistan Region: Politics, (Dis)integration and Reformation in the Borderland” Conference organized by the Department of Political Science, University of Peshawar in collaboration with the HSF Pakistan in 2019 and 2020 was the product of frustration. The frustration, in this case, was with the manner in which the Pashtun region in the Pak-Afghan borderland has been covered by international media and academia. The conference that resulted from this foundational idea has been indisputably impressive in its academic and intellectual contribution not only regarding the academic discourse on the region but regarding the study of borderlands in general. We found willing and supporting partners in the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan. The HSF has not only been instrumental in providing material and logistical assistance but have helped academically in every possible way. And with the active assistance of the HSF, the annual conference is one of the longest sustained conferences focusing on borderlands, not only in Pakistan but internationally too. The current proceedings are from the Annual Conferences held in 2019 and 2020. The 2020 conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that had been imposed on account of the same. Initially, like many other academic events, it was felt that the conference should be delayed for a year. However, eventually, it was decided to use the available technologies and conduct the conference virtually; however, it was made possible with the technical support of HSF Pakistan. Borderland studies have emerged as a subfield of Political Science and International Relations. Fixed clear borders are a relatively recent phenomenon and are human constructs, results of politics, geography and power plays. The borderland has historically served as a route for armies, wars and more recently non-state interventions and terrorism. Although, people living on borderlands have always shared a longer history of social interactions, economic and political relations as the population belong to the same ethnicity, culture and in some cases same religion. Like the past years, the papers that have been presented by scholars from across the globe in these two conferences cover the familiar areas of the past editions. Over the years, 2 we have, by design, encouraged papers with themes and areas that are generally covered to a lesser degree by academia. In the 2019 Conference, the papers predominantly reflected the ongoing developments in the region: The change in the American policy towards Afghanistan, and by extension towards the region as a whole, and the closer economic integration of Pakistan and China through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and what that would mean for the region. Other papers during the same conference focused on the Pakistan-Afghan relations, the issues in border management and the influence of global public perception on the developments in the region. In the Conference held in 2020, participating scholars focused on more disparate themes. Dr Sehrish Qayyum in her paper “Coordinated Border Management (CBM); A Sentinel Approach to Contain Asymmetric Warfare After Fencing at Pakistan - Afghanistan Border” discusses Pak-Afghan Border Management that has become a nightmare due to two decades of long war and conflict. The article explains Max Diff analysis (mathematical theory with specific assumptions) and gives solutions by supporting Coordinated Border Management (CBM) to curb the menace of asymmetric warfare as sentry approach to be practiced form on both sides of the borderline. Dr. Irfan Mahsud’s work is on “Militant Demobilization and Reintegration in the Pashtun Belt of Pakistan”. He argues that demobilisation and reintegration of convicted/captured militants/terrorists is a sensitive and complex process. Demobilization is a formal and controlled discharge of militants from active militancy or militant groups, while reintegration is a process through which a militant acquires civilian status, employment, and sustainable income. Abdul Basit in his paper “Implications of Possible US Withdrawal from Afghanistan on the South Asian Militant Landscape” discusses the ongoing Afghan peace process and the expected US exit from Afghanistan. He is of the opinion that the local and regional militant trends in South Asia are likely to be reinvigorated, while global Jihadism will be weakened. Consequently, it is less likely that despite the expected chaos and volatility, a post-US Afghanistan would once again become the epicentre of global Jihadism. 3 Mujtaba Ali Isani’s work on “The Afghan Endgame: Prospects and Challenges for US-Pakistan Relations”, discusses that the Afghan endgame seems yet so close but yet so far. After almost two decades of war, all sides concerned hope that some settlement can be reached. Afghanistan has defined US-Pakistan relations even pre-9/11. He argued that for the past three decades US-Pakistan relations have been primarily shaped by the situation in Afghanistan. Bakht Noor, discusses “The State Building in Balochistan: Legitimacy and State Society Relations”. His paper addressed that many, if not most, post-colonial states are still in the process of state-building. The state is relatively a modern idea to Muslim societies. This unfamiliarity with the idea of the state has given birth to ideological debates as well as political confrontations, between the state and society. Importantly, state has sought help from a wide range of concepts – divine and worldly – to ‘legitimize its legitimacy’. In countries like Pakistan, its monopoly over tools and use of violence is a dominant theme of state-crafting. Dr. Noreen Naseer Dr. Aamer Raza 4 Development Conundrum: Horizontal Inequalities and Unending Conflict on the Pashtun Borderland. Asif Iqbal Dawar1 Abstract In the past two decades, several studies have highlighted the ideological and political causes of the conflict in Pakistan tribal areas; however, none of the academic studies investigates the socio-economic origins of the conflict in the region. The purpose of this paper is to highlight: how has the persistent inequalities and insecurities made the local community susceptible to the conflict in the region? The study finds that non-state actors instrumentalized the persistent inequalities in mobilizing poor strata for conflict, which in turn caused further insecurities and vulnerabilities to the local communities. Improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the people is inevitable. New development initiatives in the post-merger scenario are a good omen. However, a conscious pursuit focusing on ‘human security’ (freedom from want) through ‘People perception and experience’ is needed for capacity building of the local communities to become strong enough to be
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