Why Afghanistan Is Failed State - Case Study Example

Why Afghanistan is failed state and what the US should do to support its stabilization Introduction A failed state is characterized by the following attributes. First, it has lost control over its physical territory or lost the monopoly to use its physical force legitimately. Second, it is a state whose legitimate authority to make decisions, which are collective, has been eroded. Third, it is unable to provide reasonable public services (Tan, 2009). Finally, a failed state is no longer a fully member of the international community and thus is unable to interact with other countries (Diamond, 2006). A failing state usually has a weak or ineffective central government, which has limited control over its territory, cannot provide public services, has enormous cases of criminality and corruption, its population moves involuntarily and many are refuges and its economy has a sharp decline (Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2007). A failed state is dominated with paramilitary groups, warlords and terrorists. Such a state is also unable to perform its basic security and development duties. The vulnerability of a state to become a failed state is rated using twelve indicators (Ankersen, 2008). Four of these indicators are social, two are economic indicators and six are political indicators. The social indicators include demographic pressures, massive movements of internally displaced people and refuges, legacy of vengeance seeking group grievance and chronic and sustained human flight (Huria, 2009). The economic indicators of vulnerability include uneven economic development a long group lines and sharp and severe economic decline. The political indicators of vulnerability of a country becoming a failed state include criminalization and de-legitimization of the state; progressive deterioration of public services; wide spread violation of human rights; security apparatus as state within a state; rise of factionalized elites and intervention of other states or external factors. Why Afghanistan is a failed state a) Afghanistan as a socially failed state No one in Afghanistan is accountable for any spending and this has led to lack of essential services to the public. The medical manpower of Afghanistan is on the brink of death. The country also lacks a system that controls the medical profession (Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2007). This presents challenges to casualties of the continued insurgents. Simple non-invasive procedures cannot be performed within the country and those which are successful done often result in nosocomial infections that are often life threatening to the patients. In addition, a large number of the population in Afghanistan has no access to clean water. b) Afghanistan as economically failed state The Afghans population is stuck in poverty and the country’s economy is a runaway opium economy. The rates of corruption and impunity in the country are beyond description. The government authority only has authority over Kabul where its offices are situated and most of its officials are corrupt. For example, one of the brothers of the president took over the Pul-I Khumin factory and state land through corrupt means (Tan, 2009). The country has also continued to experience upsurge in illegal drug trafficking and production. Currently Afghanistan is the largest source of illegal opium in the world accounting for about 90% production of illegal opium in the world. For instance the president’s brother Ahmad Wali who heads the Kandahar provincial council was recently involved in drug trafficking which has increased public outcry. The country lacks sufficient economic aid (Ankersen, 2008). This has resulted in little if any development in Afghanistan. The lack of development projects has escalated the rates of unemployment in the country. Given the centralized government in Kabul, most of the parts have no access to foreign aid and infrastructure is in shambles across the country. c) Afghanistan as a politically failed state The Taliban government of Afghanistan was toppled by United States of America and its close allies at the end of 2001. Creation of a new constitution begun and election of a democratic government was done thereafter. The United Nations led a coalition that initiated reconstruction and development of Afghanistan (Ankersen, 2008). In spite this great strides, the Taliban are back in Afghanistan. War has once more broken out in Afghanistan and there seems to be no signs of this subsiding. For instance, a suicide bomb exploded near the Canadian military base in Kandehar in 2010. This is a warning that the coalition government of Afghanistan is within the reach of the Taliban and it can easily be toppled in case the foreign troops withdraw from the country. In addition, there has been a series of attacks and assassination targeting NATO troops. This continued insurgent have destabilized the country’s security that was showing some signs to stabilize (Diamond, 2006). Currently vast regions of Afghanistan are ruled by Taliban, criminal gangs, warlords and tribal leaders. Furthermore, the current government enjoys very little support from the Afghans (Diamond, 2006). Analysts are of the view that because of the increased insecurity, the Afghans may turn to the Taliban to provide countrywide “security” within the framework of repressive and archaic system just like what happened in 1996 following years of chaotic mujahedin. In addition, there is agglomeration of warring ethnic factions and tribes in Afghanistan, which do not allow the building of the country (Tan, 2009). Afghanistan has continued to experience insurgencies led by Taliban. Furthermore, its state and provincial institutions are very weak and fragile. International resolve for the country are weakening on daily basis. The Taliban and al-Qaeda forces have regrouped in Afghanistan and these terror groups are a threat to the stability of the country. Given that, there is no law and order, no identity and unemployment (Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2007). In summary the country is faced with weak governance, poor economy, unemployment and wide spread corruption. All these are factors that constitute a failed state and therefore Afghanistan is a failed state. What the US should do to stabilize Afghanistan The United state of America needs to address the poverty in the country. This can be done through investment in agricultural programs. This would reduce cases of insurgency and the trading in opium. This is because previous attempts to uproot the opium across the country have resulted in the farmers turning to the insurgents (Tan, 2009). The aid provided to the Afghanistan need not to be too much since it is usually ineffective in transforming the lives of the people. What the US should ensure is the effective coordination of the aid provided to Afghanistan to ensure that it is utilized for the intended purpose (Diamond, 2006). The US should also delineate funding streams to Iraq and Afghanistan. This is because there is diffuse focus on Afghanistan due to efforts directed toward stabilizing Iraq. This in essence has contributed to failure of Afghanistan. The united states of America also need to encourage economic development in Afghanistan through civil reconstruction. This will increase jobs and reduce the number of people joining criminal gangs and other tribal groups (Diamond, 2006). The United States of America should also create a special envoy to Afghanistan to address the different issues affecting the country. In addition, US should advocate for increase in the NATO forces in Afghanistan and an increase in the military equipments. This would enlarge the area under the jurisdiction of the currently weak government. It will also weaken the strengths of the reconstituted Taliban and other criminal groups, which have control over a large area of Afghanistan (Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2007). Local warlords and tribal leaders should be armed and trained to be able to defend themselves from the Taliban re-conquest. The US should strive to rent and divide the Taliban through propositions that can be able to split the Taliban moderates from the fanatics. The US should coordinate with partner countries to devise a five-year development strategy for regional stabilization. This will ensure that countries like Pakistan, which border Afghanistan, have political stability, which will provide favourable atmosphere for stabilizing Afghanistan. US should also be involved promotion of broad peace settlement including neighbouring countries (Diamond, 2006). The US should lead in negotiations aimed at attaining international peace agreement between Russia, India, Iran, the central Asian countries, Pakistan and key shareholders in Afghanistan. The US should promote accountability and transparency in the efforts to reconstruct Afghanistan. This will ensure that the aid given to Afghanistan is well spent. In addition, this will assist in creation of sustainable growth of private sector in Afghanistan (Ankersen, 2008). Accountability and transparency will increase trust, which will stimulate economic growth within Afghanistan. The US should also encourage local procurement to promote local private sector procurement throughout Afghanistan. The US should also facilitate transit trade agreement between Afghanistan and its neighbours such as Pakistan. This will ensure that both countries have expanded markets for their products in the region. In addition, the US government should strategize to increase generation and supply of electricity within Afghanistan. This can be achieved through rehabilitation of major electricity projects that were destroyed during the war (Tan, 2009). The US government should also promote provision of renewable energy systems throughout Afghanistan. Transportation projects within Afghanistan should be encouraged. This should be done through donor-funded projects to develop railroads and roads, which should provide transport to farmers and entrepreneurs products to district, provincial and regional markets. The US should also beef up its efforts to revitalize value chains, which support the mining sector of Afghanistan. This can be done through provision of assistance to afghan marble companies to acquire sophisticated mining equipment. It should in addition be involved in training miners on safe mining methods (Ankersen, 2008). This will in turn create jobs and reduce the number of people joining criminal gangs hence contributing to stability of Afghanistan. The US should also set up centres, which provide education and training aimed at adding value to gemstone production. The United States of America government should strive to strengthen the Afghanistan government ability to fight corruption (Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2007). This will help in improving the legitimacy of the government. This should be done through strengthening anti-corruption initiatives, which are aimed at building the capacity of Afghans in deterrence of corruption, and strengthening the rule of law. These initiatives will also promote accountability for donor funds both at local and national level (Diamond, 2006). Conclusion Given that Afghanistan is faced with lack of law and order, lack of identity, unemployment, weak governance, poor economy and wide spread corruption we can say it is a failed state. This does not imply that the situation cannot be salvaged. The United States of America should take the mantle of restoring the stability of Afghanistan. To do this, the US should be involved actively in international coordination of funding to Afghanistan, addressing escalating insecurity levels, promoting governance and rule of law, countering trafficking of narcotics, promotion of economic development and reconstruction and facilitating peace and economic agreements between Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries. References Ankersen, C. 2008. Civil-military cooperation in post-conflict operations: emerging theory and practice. London: Routledge. Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2007. Afghanistan on the Brink: Where do we go from here? Congressional Hearing. Washington: Diane Publishing. Diamond, L. 2006. Promoting democracy in post-conflict and failed states: Lessons and challenges. Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 2(2), pp. 93-116. Huria, S. 2009. Failed States and Foreign Military Intervention: The Afghanistan Imbroglio. New Delhi: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Tan, A. 2009. U.S. Strategy Against Global Terrorism: How It Evolved, Why It Failed, and Where It Is Headed. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More