The Challenges to Nation-Building
in Afghanistan begins....

Once, nations were forged through “blood and iron.” Today, the world seeks to build them through conflict resolution, multilateral aid, and free elections. But this more civilized approach has not yielded many successes. For nation building to work, some harsh compromises are necessary- including military coercion and the recognition that democracy is not always a realistic goal - Marina Ottaway

The term “nation-building” is commonly used to describe the three different but related tasks of unifying the various ethnic groups in a multiethnic society within a geographical unit, democratization of its polity, and economic reconstruction.

Moreover, nation-building often implies the attempt to create democratic and secure states where economic reconstruction is often seen as an important part of the process. It is assumed that if the economy is improved, a more stable and better functioning state evolves as economic well-being is directly associated with democratization. Nation-building today is more often the practice of assisting countries overcome conflict and build effective and legitimate political institutions. The United Nations has had a starring role in virtually all of the post-Cold War attempts at nation-building, from Cambodia to El Salvador to Bosnia—with supporting roles by other international and regional organizations, states, and nongovernmental organizations.

The UN’s attempts to reconstruct violence-ridden societies as enunciated by Boutros Boutros Ghali, provides the definitions and strategies for what the UN terms as “peace-building.” The UN does not see any contradiction between globalism and nationalism, often placed at the two extremes of reactions. Rather, it is emphasized that “the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of States within the established international system should be respected, and the principle of self determination for peoples, both of great value and importance, must not be permitted to work against each other in the period ahead.”

To be continued....