The Future of Afghanistan

Thier The Future of Afghanistan The of Afghanistan Future J Alexander Thier editor United States Institute of Peace The Future of Afghanistan Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 1 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 2 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM The Future of Afghanistan J Alexander Thier editor UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE Was H in G ton , D.C. Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 3 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM The views expressed in this book are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily reflect views of the United States Institute of Peace. UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE 1200 17th Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-3011 www.usip.org © 2009 by the Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace. All rights reserved. First published 2009 To request permission to photocopy or reprint materials for course use, contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com. For print, electronic media, and all other subsidiary rights, e-mail: [email protected]. Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 4 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM Contents Acknowledgments v Map of Afghanistan vi 1. Introduction: Building Bridges 1 J Alexander Thier 2. The Transformation of the Afghan State 13 Barnett R. Rubin 3. The Future of Security Institutions 23 Ali A. Jalali 4. The Long Democratic Transition 35 Grant Kippen 5. The Politics of Mass Media 45 Amin Tarzi 6. A Human Rights Awakening? 55 Nader Nadery 7. The Arrested Development of Afghan Women 63 Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam 8. Culture and Contest 73 Jolyon Leslie 9. Afghanistan and Its Region 81 William Maley 10. The Intertwined Destinies of Afghanistan and Pakistan 93 Marvin G. Weinbaum and Haseeb Humayoon Contributors 105 About the Future of Afghanistan Project 109 Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 5 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 6 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM Acknowledgments his volume represents the work of a talented community of scholars and policymakers who have dedicated their professional lives to sup- portingT peace and stability within Afghanistan and throughout the region. I am particularly grateful to all of the contributing authors. It has been a great pleasure to work with them and to exchange ideas about our shared vision for the future of Afghanistan. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of the United States Institute of Peace and its funders, the American people. I am deeply grateful for the support of the president of the United States Institute of Peace, Ambassador Richard Solomon; the Institute’s vice president of Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations and the Centers of Innovation, Dan Serwer; and the Institute’s associate vice president and director of the Rule of Law Program, Neil J. Kritz. Special appreciation is due to the volume’s editor, Kurt Volkan, for his commitment and en- couragement throughout the entire process and to the entire publications team at the United States Institute of Peace Press for their special effort in getting this volume out quickly. I would also like to thank Azita Ranjbar, who assisted every single aspect of this project, and Mark Sedra for his valuable critiques and insights. Finally, I am most deeply indebted to the thousands of Afghans whom I have come to know these last sixteen years for their knowledge, courage, and unflagging humor and grace—and, of course, to Tam, Hannah, and Izzy, who could make anyone an optimist. v Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 7 12/17/08 11:24:43 AM Source: United Nations Cartographic Service Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 8 12/17/08 11:24:44 AM 1 Introduction: Building Bridges J Alexander Thier s we embark on a discussion of Afghanistan’s future, it is important to remember its past, for this history leaves us with enduring lessons. Afghanistan’s geography, people, and culture are not fated to war and failure. For more than four thousand years, Afghanistan served as a bridge between continents and cultures. In 2000 BCE, centers of art and commerce flourished on this territory—a hub of the Silk Route, which ran from China to Rome. Between the conquests of the armies of Alexander and Genghis Khan, great Greco-Bactrian, Buddhist, and Islamic civilizations rose and fell there. The fame of Balkh, “the Mother of Cities,” stretched from the time of Alexander to Marco Polo and it reigned as a cultural capi- tal for centuries. The notion of Afghanistan as an insular, intolerant, and hide-bound society represents a fundamental misreading of its history and misunderstanding of its culture. Afghanistan is at its best when it serves as a conduit of cooperation between countries on its borders and those further away. As visitors to the country know, even in their darkest hours, Afghans are preternaturally hospitable. But to successfully engage with Afghan culture is to first and foremost respect it. So long as the core aim of the international partnership with Afghanistan is to change the country, rather than enable its positive growth, we will fail. Since 2001, pundits and policymakers have labeled each year as “the critical year for Afghanistan.” Yet, it is dangerous and shortsighted to think of Afghanistan in twelve- to eighteen-month horizons. Indeed, seven years of short-term thinking have gotten us to a place where, out of desperation, we can only think of the short term. The goal for this collection of essays is to look a bit further into the future—a modest ten years—to think about where Afghanistan can and should be going. There are several clear lessons and themes that our essays turn to again and again. The foremost priority is, in fact, to prioritize. It is essential that we begin to do a few things well rather than do many things poorly. Therefore, we must focus on a few critical priorities—security, rule of law, economic empowerment, and the regional context—with reasonable expectations about what can be achieved over a ten-year span. Second, insecurity, whether due to insurgency, terrorism, regional meddling, or warlordism undermines the potential for progress on all other fronts. 1 Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 9 12/17/08 11:24:44 AM 2 The Future of Afghanistan Security alone is not sufficient to ensure progress, but without competent Afghan security institutions success is impossible. Third, and equally important, is the legitimacy of the Afghan government itself and, espe- cially, its will and capacity to implement the rule of law. Ultimately, the future of Afghanistan depends upon the ability of its leaders to organize for a common, positive purpose. Fourth, an engaged, empowered, and informed population is the key to sustainable progress. We must engage the capacity of the broader Afghan society, making them the engine of progress rather than unwilling subjects of rapid change. Finally, we must work with Afghanistan’s neighbors to create a regional environment con- ducive to Afghanistan’s success. Great Expectations? Afghanistan has experienced a relentless welter of swift and jarring changes in its recent history. Since the 1970s, following a fifty-year period of relatively peaceful and gradual development, Afghanistan was whip- sawed through Cold War great-power competition, accompanied by a Soviet invasion, Communism, and jihadism; fratricidal civil war perpe- trated by ethnic militias acting as regional proxies; the rise of Talibanism and bin Laden’s global jihadism; and pacification and democratization under U.S.-led military intervention. Over the past thirty years, perhaps half of the population has been dis- placed, with one-third leaving the country altogether. More than a million Afghans were killed, and millions more were wounded, traumatized, or died prematurely due to the lack of sufficient food, clean water, or basic medical care. The educated and skilled left the country, arms flooded in, and the scourge of crime, corruption, drugs, and a culture of impunity has overwhelmed the economy and traditional structures of governance and peacemaking. When these histories are combined—centuries-old traditional culture buffeted by decades of turmoil—we are forced to ask what are reasonable expectations for sustainable change in Afghanistan over the next ten years? Is the long-term vision of a liberal democratic political system with an em- phasis on individual rights and a free-market economy, feasible in the near term? If we must prioritize, are priorities likely to be shared by the Afghans and the international community? In a world of limited resources, are the primary goals of Afghans to enjoy a secure environment with sufficient food and basic elements of justice compatible with the primary international goal of preventing Afghanistan from being a safe haven for international terrorist networks that inspired the intervention in 2001? Although this is a Thier-Afghanistan-2a rev.indd 10 12/17/08 11:24:44 AM Introduction: Building Bridges 3 forward-looking book, it is important to have a clear understanding of the critical failures in the last seven years, so that we may prioritize our efforts in the coming years. To paraphrase Rienhold Niebur’s Serentity Prayer, the United States and Afghanistan in their nation-building ambitions need the serenity to accept the things they cannot change; the courage to change the things they can; and the wisdom to know the difference. These questions pose a central conundrum of Afghanistan’s current development path: far from a gradual process of development led by do- mestic forces, Afghanistan’s dramatic changes are occurring due to enor- mous external pressure.

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