Afghanistan

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2009 a year of living dangerously as autocrats target activists

Authoritarian regimes have deliberately targeted and intensified attacks against human rights and democracy advocates over the past year, according to the annual review of Human Rights Watch. [read full story]

Afghan mission “still doable”, but democratization?

The widespread fraud in the recent Afghan election has prompted a rift between accommodationists and hardliners within the international community, while the deteriorating security situation have fed disillusion and prompted some politicians and commentators alike to advocate withdrawal.
But less faint-hearted voices are calling for commitment and consistency.
 “As in Iraq in 2007, everything in Afghanistan is [read full story]

Abandon ‘irresistible illusion’ of Afghan democracy?

The international community should abandon the irresistible illusion of Afghan democracy and adopt a more moderate, minimalist approach to stabilizing Afghanistan, argues Rory Stewart. Lacking the necessary knowledge, power and legitimacy to craft a sustainable democracy, the most feasible aspiration is a state that looks like its neighbors, he suggests.
Stabilization though an Iraq-style surge is [read full story]

Afghanistan: democracy off the agenda, but strategic dilemma remains

The Obama administration has apparently conceded that prospects for building democracy in Afghanistan are slight, at least for the foreseeable future, even though Afghan democrats and civil society groups will continue their laudable efforts.  But now commentators are asking whether it is worthwhile or even feasible for the U.S. to engage in nation-building or even [read full story]

Afghanistan: ‘use military and civilian power to promote democracy’

Afghanistan: ‘use military and civilian power to promote democracy’

President Barack Obama today launched a new strategy to “disrupt, defeat and dismantle” al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He described the situation in Afghanistan as “increasingly perilous” and the strategy stresses the priority accorded to security and stability while asserting the need for improved governance.
Obama noted that the Pakistani people have “struggled [read full story]

Let Afghan civil society confront corruption

Let Afghan civil society confront corruption

Further to the ongoing debate about the way forward in Afghanistan, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani argues that even the most comprehensive and aggressive counter-insurgency strategy will fail unless the issue of corruption is addressed:
To begin the process of cleaning up government, a new commission of civil society organizations should look into the sale and [read full story]

Afghanistan: corruption and ‘legitimacy gap’ threaten democratic progress

The incoming Obama administration faces no shortage of advice on how it should deal with emerging foreign policy challenges, not least in Afghanistan, where the administration faces what is “probably the longest campaign in the long war,” General David Petraeus told a Washington conference last week. The forthcoming elections must be seen to be legitimate, [read full story]

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