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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.
THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF NATION BUILDING IN AFGHANISTAN
JUL 2, 2007 - 4:40PM PDT
Posted by M. Ashraf Haidari
All posts by this author
From an online discussion at Development Gateway, Jul 2, 2007: 1. Mr. Hikmatullah Amin, Afghanistan: I wanted to ask from Mr. Haidari the stance of Afghan Government on the difference between the development projects costs versus the military costs. Last year, Germany spent 4 million euros in development and humanitarian projects while the military cost was 475 million euros. I wonder why the Afghan government cannot prioritize between various ways to fight against terror? HAIDARI: The government of Afghanistan has been very clear on the right balance between security and development assistance, which we have repeatedly brought to the attention of our partners including Germany. The challenge of Afghanistan’s instability cannot be overcome militarily alone, and the past six years have demonstrated that fact. Some may think of Afghanistan’s reconstruction as a linear process where you first establish security and then deliver humanitarian and long-term reconstruction assistance. While that may be the case in some post-conflict societies, it does not work in Afghanistan where we need an integrated and balanced approach to peace-building, that is, we need to identify the various sources of instability in Afghanistan and then address them at the same time rather than treat their symptoms. In a recent article entitled “Nation building or nation neglecting?” I pointed out that three destabilizing factors with domestic, regional and transnational dimensions contribute to deteriorating security in Afghanistan. I strongly believe that unless our international partners help us strengthen the state institutions and provide them with the resources to implement our “Marshall Plan” (The Afghanistan National Development Strategy), we will continue losing popular support. It is a lack of state capacity and reconstruction assistance that the Taliban have increasingly capitalized on to win over the destitute in the south and east of Afghanistan. However, the Taliban cross-border insurgency would not end unless the government of Pakistan sincerely cooperated with us and our common allies to dismantle the command and control of the Taliban in the greater NWFP and Baluchistan border region. It is also in the south and east of Afghanistan where drug production is at its peak, accounting for more than 60% of all narcotics produced in the country. The Taliban and a major network of domestic and regional drug traffickers have joined hands in the campaign to destabilize Afghanistan and to undo our achievements of the past six years. Therefore, we ask our partners to work with us closely to ensure that their security and development assistance is effectively utilized to address our national priorities, thereby overcoming the complex challenges that face us in Afghanistan. 2. Mrs. Joanna Sherman, Bond Street Theatre, NY, USA: I just returned from Afghanistan; I have been working there off and on over the last five years. Things were notably different this trip: the security situation had dramatically affected both foreign and local NGOs. In a discussion with some Afghan friends, I asked what would really bring sustainable change and stability to the country. I was shocked when they said that "it is…... FULL TEXT
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Walton Cook on July 3, 2007 @ 2:58 pm:
USC should also look to its own faculty, specifically to Professor Dr. Nake Kamrany, who has specific recommendations for the benefit of Afghanistan.
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