Appropriate Governance is a Viable US Exit Strategy in Afghanistan
Prof. Nazif Shahrani*
فراسوی کلپتوکراسی: جکومت داری مناسب یک استرتیژی کارامد برای خروج امریکا از افغانستان / پروفیسر نظیف شهرانی*
خروج قوای ناتو از افغانستان و مشکلات جدی که افغانستان در عرصه های مختلف سردچار آن است، این سوال را مطرح میکند که آیا افغانستان قادر خواهد بود که به حیث یک دولت استوار و دموکراتیک روی پای خود بایستد؟ در پاسخ به این سوال باید واضح ساخته شود که علل و راه حل های وضعیت فعلی در کجاها جستجو شوند. نویسنده مقاله علت ها را در ساختار سیاسی ناکارامد و بیمار افغانستان میداند و اذعان دارد که باید راه حل ها نیز در سطح اصلاح سیستم سیاسی جستجو شود. به طور مشخص گسترش دموکراسی سازی در سطوح مختلف محلی از یک سو و گسترش قانونمندی، دیموکراسی و توزیع قدرت در سطح حکومت مرکزی اقدامات ضروری است که باید روی دست گرفته شوند.
* نظیف شهرانی: پروفیسر مردم شناسی و رییس انستیتوت شرق نزدیک در دانشگاه اندیانا در امریکا
Over three decades of war in Afghanistan have proven that achieving victory on the battlefield is easier than translating that victory into desirable political outcomes. The repeated failures of the US and its international and Afghan partners to establish an effective governance system in Afghanistan reflects the most neglected aspect of the US coalition’s exit strategy: developing an appropriate political system for a war-shattered multi-ethnic society.
The current consensus in the US media appears to be that there is no military solution to securing Afghanistan and that public sentiment is increasingly turning against the war. In England another mantra, “we must negotiate with the Taliban,” has been in vogue for much longer. The particular deceit used in the recent assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani– who was to meet with “the bearer of an important message” from the Taliban – has clarified the prospects of peace talks with the Taliban. As Ata Muhammed Noor, Governor of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan and a powerful Rabbani ally, has said, holding peace talks with the Taliban “is utterly meaningless”. President Karzai, who insisted on continuing the peace process with the Taliban at Rabbani’s funeral, has since changed his mind and now wishes only to negotiate the Taliban’s handlers–the government of Pakistan.
The current consensus in the US media appears to be that there is no military solution to securing Afghanistan and that public sentiment is increasingly turning against the war. In England another mantra, “we must negotiate with the Taliban,” has been in vogue for much longer. The particular deceit used in the recent assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani– who was to meet with “the bearer of an important message” from the Taliban – has clarified the prospects of peace talks with the Taliban. As Ata Muhammed Noor, Governor of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan and a powerful Rabbani ally, has said, holding peace talks with the Taliban “is utterly meaningless”. President Karzai, who insisted on continuing the peace process with the Taliban at Rabbani’s funeral, has since changed his mind and now wishes only to negotiate the Taliban’s handlers–the government of Pakistan.
