Afghanistan as a Failed State - Assignment Example

Afghanistan is a failed state. What are the challenges to nation-building in Afghanistan?" Afghanistan is a mountainous landlocked country found in the South Central Asia, bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast (Afghanistan, 2011). Various ethnic communities can be found in the country, with the most common being the Pashtun ethnic group, although there are a few other ethnic groups such as Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara, and other small groups. Despite having large chunks of underutilized agricultural lands and mineral resources, the country remains one of the poorest nations mainly due to political disturbance and persistent infighting, as well as the 1980 Afghan War (Afghanistan, 2011). A failed state may be described as one where political control and order is non-existence such that the citizenry are oppressed, while the general environment is tense, and consists of warring factions and militant rebels, with the government’s armed forces always at cross-roads with these insurgents or unable to provide enough security. Afghanistan seems to have fallen in this category, not until the US embarked on enforcing democratic rule in the recent past. One reason for classifying Afghanistan as a failed state is the fact that the government institutions have been almost totally destroyed characterized by no rule of law and no democratic system of governance; for example, the Taliban militia oppressed and massacred most people opposed to their rule. In addition, the country seems to have failed due to persistent civil war, internal and external displacements, human rights violations, extreme poverty, and the unending drought with the socio-economic indicators being too poor or inadequate. Other factors have been traced to emerge from the cold war, colonial disturbance of social structures and imbalance between social mobility and nation-building processes. In the recent years, the international community has been keen to help the country rebuild itself, with the US being on the frontline. However, several challenges are encountered in nation building, one being that the policies drawn are not sound enough as the main focus is military intervention to eliminate terror and create a democratic state, but less emphasis on reconstruction. Other challenges include insufficient funding from NGOs, insecurity due to the persistence of an antiregime and anti-western insurgence, and shifting attention by the US and UK to other countries, such as Iraq, Libya and so on. Further in this paper I will look at what has failed and why Afghanistan is being compared to a failed state and the nation building efforts which have received a lot of international support have not been quite a success. The paper will also touch the role of violence, military and humanitarian issues in the Afghanistan. Failed states Countries exist to offer political and social goods in a decentralized manner to the people living within its boundaries. Therefore, countries organize and distribute the concerns of their people, and safeguard their people from external exploitation and influences to ensure the country’s internal environment in terms of economic, political, and social aspects are taken care of. Countries are classified as strong states, weak states, failed, or collapsed depending on their ability to provide the important political goods to their people. Any country government’s main function is to provide the political good of security by preventing cross-border invasions and infiltrations, and any reduction of it territories. This is in addition to removing domestic threats or attacks upon the national order and social systems, and providing mechanisms for dispute resolution between the citizens with the state and with fellow inhabitants without fighting or engaging in any form of violence (Rotberg, 2002, P.3). Other political and social goods includes freedom to engage freely, openly, and actively in politics, the ability of the state to provide medical care, education, social amenities, and services for the inhabitants. Strong states generally perform well by being able to maintain full control of their territories and providing their citizens with variety of good quality political goods. Weak states are able to meet expectations in some aspects while performing poorly in other aspects. The more a country tends to move weak state towards failure; it is categorized as a failing state. Most weak states experience ethnic enmity, religious and other intercommunal tensions that are about to develop or have developed into violent conflicts. Failed states are countries characterized by tense, heavily conflicting, dangerous, and contested by warring factions, with the government’s armed forces battling armed revolts led by one or several rivals. In addition, the government faces two or more insurgencies, varieties of civil unrest, different degrees of communal discontent, and plethora of dissent directed at the state and at groups within the state (Rotberg, 2002, P.5). Failed states are not just classified on the basis of the level of violence experienced, but rather, on the causes that led to civil wars and eventual failed state status. According to international standards, several factors are used in determining failed states including demographic pressures, the presence of refugees and internally displaced persons, human rights violations, human flight, group grievances, economic deterioration, uneven development, delegitimization of the state, an unaccountable security apparatus, failing public services, elite factionalizing, and external interventions (Sassen, & Ahmed, 2010). For failed states, they are mostly unable to provide primary citizens’ needs such as food, security, education, medical care, and leadership due to levels of violence or poverty experienced. This situation normally creates a power vacuum and “Within this power vacuum, people fall victim to competing factions and crime, and sometimes the United Nations or neighboring states intervene to prevent a humanitarian disaster; foreign governments can also knowingly destabilize a state by fueling ethnic warfare or supporting rebel forces, causing it to collapse” (Globalpolicy, 2011). Failed states have intercommunal disharmonies creating fear, which fuels ethnic conflicts and animosities between the governments and other discriminated groups. The failed states mostly do not control all their borders and do not control some section of their country. Due to these situations, mostly, the recognized government exercises power in definite areas such as capital city or definite ethnically controlled areas. The above discussed conditions found in failed states clearly befit the Afghanistan situation thus I would consider Afghanistan as a failed states. Below I will build on the discussion why Afghanistan is a failed state and what has been hindering efforts to transform the country from this situation to a better and stable one. Afghanistan situation Majority of failed states capitalize on their inhabitants, inspired by ethnic or other intercommunity hostility or by ruling elite’s insecurities; victimizing their own citizens or the group which is seen as hostile. For example, in the ruling on Taliban’s Afghanistan, the ruling cadres increasingly oppressed, extorted and harassed the majority of their own subjects while favoring few based on party, clan, or sect (Rotberg, 2002, P.5). In collapsed states, the government institutions exist partly or are almost totally destroyed characterized by no rule of law and no democratic system of governance. This is in addition to the corrupt elites polarizing the country to befit their private needs, thus there are several forms of violence, with the warlords, paramilitary groups, guerrillas, mercenaries and foreign military advisors substituting the state armed forces being divided, dispersed, and privatized. The result of this is creating a situation where violence is privatized for income generation to many people within the country, as in DRC Congo, Somalia, and Afghanistan (Anon, 2003). Several factors contribute to the situation of a country to become a failed state, but in Afghanistan, three geopolitical factors have contributed to the situation. These geopolitical factors include: first, during of the Cold War, the two superpowers mostly kept shallow-rooted regimes in power artificially, sustaining them as potential allies through supplies of arms or ideology based structures which kept the state together by force. Secondly, the heritage of colonial masters had lasted long enough to bias the traditional social structures but not long enough to replace them with western constitutional structures and status of new state. Finally, the processes of modernization encouraged social and geographical mobility but they were not counter balanced by nation-building processes capable of placing the country on a concrete foundation (Thurer, 1999). The Afghanistan situation has always been declining due to continued civil wars and following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S. and the British, governments, who invaded Afghanistan, overthrowing the extremist Taliban government. In 2002, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (ISAF) was established to rebuild the country, with NATO nations deploying troops in Afghanistan. The United States has been the largest donor bilaterally in Afghanistan reconstruction, with other donors including “Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Iran, Norway, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the Russian Federation, Spain, Pakistan, France, China, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Belgium, Qatar, Ireland, Turkey, Austria, Luxembourg, Oman, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, and Poland” (USAID, 2007). In addition, the Major multilateral donors in Afghanistan include the European Community, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the United Nations with U.S. assistance exceeding the total of all multilateral aid combined (USAID, 2007). The recovery efforts are also being boosted by returning Afghan expatriates who have brought with them knowledge, new ideas, entrepreneurship, funds and innovative skills to fuel economic growth. Challenges to nation building in Afghanistan With the Taliban overthrown in 2001, Afghanistan has made tremendous improvement in nation-building efforts by rebuilding its state institutions, including incorporation of a modern constitution, holding peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections, establishing national security institutions, improving women’s right, and increasing educational institutions (Hayes, 2008, P.26). In order to reduce terrorism, resolve conflicts, and assist nations to tackle social, economic, and political challenges, the United States government proposed undertaking nation building in Afghanistan as an international effort to help rebuild the country’s war-ravaged infrastructure and assist in formation of a stable government (Israel, N.d, P. 1). These nation-building efforts have been ongoing since oust of Taliban up to date. Before mid 2003, while reconstruction efforts were still continuing, the country situation seemed to have deteriorated mainly due to massive underdevelopment caused by twenty two years of war, internal and external displacements, human rights violations, extreme poverty, and the unending drought with the socio-economic indicators (health, education, access to food and water) being at the most least point. The majority of Afghans had no means of survival apart from limited international assistance when available. Thus, life was unbearable for many and they were vulnerable to illness, war effects, and abuses from Taliban. In addition, the country was considered collapsed though party involved in the conflicts wanted any border changes but the country was under a lot of external influence, cross-border criminalized economic pillaging, and some adoption into external economies of its neighbors especially Pakistan and Iran (Donini, Niland, & Wermester, 2004, P.134). These situations were mainly associated with the previous regime of Taliban and from this period, the lost government institutions are gradually reemerging, with the international and local groups of reconstruction efforts working on development blueprints, state plans, and economy recovery plans. Military needs The nation-building efforts are so difficult in Afghanistan due to the need to address immediate security concerns and the need to form long-term policies, which are mostly difficult to implement, but when implemented, they can improve the state building efforts. The situation is made more difficult due to the fact that: first, the international support initiatives to stabilize post-Taliban Afghanistan are valued as a vital effort in the global war on terror, with the operational exigencies of military action casting a wrong shadow on the state building process in this war-torn country. Secondly, the local and regional allies selected by the United States for counterterrorism measures mostly have their own agendas and do not contribute to building peace and stability in Afghanistan. In addition, the level of investment that was initially set aside for reconstructing Afghanistan was not based on the real need of the country but on the requirements of military operations in search of creating a modern state. Lastly, the increased donor funding to reconstruction efforts in the recent years are mainly influenced by the supply and are not demand driven making Afghanistan situation a low-cost military intervention and a cheap state building endeavour (Hayes, 2008, P.25). These situations make Afghanistan to be among the most poorly funded current international reconstruction efforts. The nation-building efforts are made more complex because they are taking place in a country experiencing cycle of violence traced back to recent several decades of instability within the country and the surrounding areas. This turn of events calls for more military expenditure at the expense of country’s economic and social developments, slowing the progress in restoring country’s failed state status. NGOs The NGOs play several crucial roles in the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan by being involved in activities contributing to stability and security by working in collaboration with military. They are very much involved in programmes aimed at improving the capacity and the transparency of the upcoming institutions. They are also involved in enabling citizens and the new regime to understand their roles and obligations to enhance better relationships (Jelinek, 2006, P.10). More so, they train citizens on adopting democratic principles. In addition, they are helping political groups in understanding governance matters and in dispute resolution efforts. Lastly, they involved in equitable distribution of goods and services to the citizens in the whole country (CMI, 2011). Though providing several benefits in the nation-building efforts, NGOs pose many challenges to these efforts. First, the rising number of NGOs has created coordination problems that are strong obstacles to establishing institutional arrangements, which improve efficiency and overcome coordination and collaboration problems (Dobbins, 2007, P.133). Secondly, some NGOs have a variety of goals, objectives, and approaches that differ from those of the local government, major international organizations, donors, other NGOs and even the citizens (Dobbins, 2007, P.133). Thirdly, NGOs undermine the authority of central government by appearing to replace its provision of services and resources (Barajas, Howard, Miner, Sartin, & Silver, 2006, P.7). Thirdly, the central government may see NGOs as a threat to its power and therefore, work to curtail the NGOs’ reach into the society (Barajas, Howard, Miner, Sartin, & Silver, 2006, P.8). More so, NGOs sometimes differ with the informal social institutions that have been offering services to the locals in absence of responsible government. In addition, the Afghan government and NGOs are both competing for funds and personnel, with the increased insecurity separating NGOs and the central government further (Edgeofconflict, 2009). Lastly, there are instances where NGOs are not able to carry out major nation-building activities. Insecurity Insecurity remains the major threat to nation-building efforts. Insecurity has led to many unfinished processes in the main pillars of nation building over the years, posing the following challenges: the persistence of an antiregime and anti-western insurgence. This is in addition to the continuing presence of local and regional private armed forces, even when not fighting the regime or international forces; The massive growth of the opium economy; and the looming and complex parliamentary elections, thus increasing insecurity. This reflects that relentless elements still exist in Afghanistan with the private militias and factional forces still controlling some regions in the country further worsening the situation (Fukuyama, 2006, P. 161). Organized crime in Afghanistan of late involves several activities but it is mainly based on the growing of opium poppies, the production of heroin from them, and smuggling of heroin out of the country to regional and global markets, with growing of opium crops continuing to increase since 2002, further fuelling insecurity (Fukuyama, 2006, P. 162). Due to insecurity posed by the dissidents and warring factions, there is the centre periphery struggle between the Kabul government and the regional commanders or warlords over local autonomy and access to important resources (Weinbaum, 2004, P.3). These conflicts normally reflect ethnic divisions that have been increasing with the insecurity situation. The foreign forces, which are very much involved in restoring peace, order and security in Afghanistan have been suffering more casualties in recent times, highlighting the level of insecurity in the country. For example, Richards notes that, “2010 was the deadliest year yet for the coalition forces fighting in the country, with 711 troop deaths among the foreign forces. A little over two-thirds of these have been US troops; this could, of course, mean that the coalition is taking the fight more aggressively to the enemy, but it certainly suggests that the Taliban are far from being defeated. Certain areas of Afghanistan, and notably Helmand Province in the Pashtun belt in the South, have proved particularly intractable and deadly” (Richards, 2011, P.2). Though there is continued presence of the local and international security forces, the insecurity situation has not improved. According to Red Cross, in December 2010, many areas in the country were becoming very insecure due to conflicts fueled by the proliferation of armed groups, threatening the ability of the humanitarian organizations to reach the people in need of their assistance (Richards, 2011, P.2). This situation has made the ability of doctors to reach many regions of the country difficult, thus children and the general population are dying even from easily preventable diseases. Shifting attention In recent times, the United States, which is the leading reconstruction partner in Afghanistan, has shifted reconstruction efforts to other countries. For example, in April 2003, after elimination of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, the United States emerged on reconstruction operations in the following months in efforts to be appreciated as the reformers across the Middle East (Pauly, & Lansford, 2005, P.132). This situation leads to reduced focus on nation building in Afghanistan. With the international development partners experiencing several obstacles such as lasting shortage of troops, experts, and funds for foreign nation-building, they have started to channel the available resources through a close cooperation of their general nation-building offices, mostly found in their foreign ministries (Daalder, Gnesotto, & Gordon, 2006, P. 171). Through these channels, the funds and efforts for nation building are not well utilized or the accrued benefits are minimal compared with direct channels. In addition, due to pressure from their countries and need to address other global concerns, most of the major ASAF members are planning to withdraw their troops while still the reconstruction is still underway and the security threats still exist. This is clearly highlighted by the pledges made by countries regarding withdrawal. Conclusion Nation-building process in Afghanistan is far from over, but with continued stability of the new government, things are set to improve. Should the international community continue to offer more assistance in reconstruction efforts, much is set to be achieved though the challenges still exist. Before the international policies relating to failed or failing states was not very keen on the weak states since it was viewed as if failure of one would not have affected or implicated much in the neighboring regions in terms of peace and security of the globe. But now it has dawned that not only the citizens of failing states suffer also there huge security and economic threats posed on the surrounding nations and the global. Currently the international community has become swifter in handling failing states to prevent further deterioration of countries and the consequent implication of this situation. The UN Security Council has extended it mandate from that of just functioning as a form global policeman in safeguarding human rights to a more powerful position of supranational government and administration body aiding states in performing their internal duties to their citizens to alleviate failing situations something which has completely altered the global response to crisis like how the international communities has responded to the Afghanistan situation with more emphasis on fully transforming the country in a better state due the benefits accrued from stability not only the state only but also on the neighbors (Thurer, 1999). Reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan by the international community has not been very successful what happened in Germany and Japan after the Second World War largely because still insecurity remains the biggest challenge to the nation building effort but also lack qualified manpower, corruption, lack of resources, drugs trade and power infrastructure have much derailed the reconstruction efforts. Once the government and international community are able to reduces and eliminate these hindrances the rebuilding of Afghanistan is set to achieve progress in many capacities. The Afghanistan situation though has not been successes it will serve help scholars and the international community in relation to handling future humanitarian crisis. References List Afghanistan. 2011. Encyclopedia Britannica. (Online). Available from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan (Accessed on 04 May 2011). Anon. 2003. Failed and Collapsed States in the International System. (Online). 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