Millions of Afghans lined up to vote for a new president Saturday, despite warnings of violence from the Taliban. Saturday's historic vote begins what would be the first democratic transfer of power for Afghanistan; President Hamid Karzai has served for two terms and is not allowed to run for a third under the country's constitution.

They are known as Afghanistan's "Generation America" — young people who've grown up with American forces in their midst — or at least in their country. And now they represent a vital force for their nation's future, as Afghanistan chooses a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

A few weeks ago, Afghanistan’s attorney-general ordered the Kabul police to arrest a fugitive wanted for cheating a business partner and embezzling millions of dollars out of the country. The police quickly tracked down the fugitive, who was hiding inside a residential compound heavily guarded by a private militia.

The loya jirga is a venerable Afghan institution in which representatives of Afghan tribes are summoned, in the absence of formal government, to discuss issues of concern. Afghan rulers used them to ratify their rule whenever they seized power or expanded territory, because if there is one defining characteristic of a loya jirga, it is that it rarely says no.

Election authorities in Afghanistan have wrapped up a three-week process of registering candidates for next April’s crucial presidential vote. By the end of the deadline on Sunday, about 20 political heavyweights, including Islamist warlords, had submitted their candidacies for the country’s top office. While the list of registered contenders for the April 5 presidential election has ended weeks of speculation over who is going to seek to replace President Hamid Karzai, the race remains wide open, with no clear front-runner.

Afghan and Pakistani leaders met for critical talks last month as President Hamid Karzai traveled to Islamabad to sit down with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It was Karzai’s first visit to Pakistan since Sharif, a former two-time prime minister, took the helm of a new civilian government in June. aimed at patching Kabul’s frayed relations with Islamabad and seeking the release of senior Taliban prisoners to revive the stalled peace talks. But the lead up to the meeting did not augur well.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has in recent days sought to use soft power to focus the attention of South Asian countries on the importance of stabilizing he region. At the recent SAARC summit in the Maldives, for example, the need for the peaceful rise of participating members was outlined in detail, using multiple economic levers such as most favoured nation status.

For the US the war seems to have intensified from Afghanistan to a public diplomacy initiative in a West vs Islamdebate. Whether the US public diplomacy initiatives can resolve this larger cause to marginalise the radical Islamic elements across the globe is a tough ask at the best of times, especially now.