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SITUATING WORKABLE RESPONSE
Conflict-management is the only solution for a country like
Afghanistan where nation-building is a major challenge. Warlords cannot
be asked or forced to abdicate power, instead they can be coaxed into
participating by providing some incentives and maintaining power. There
is a need to co-opt regional centres as well as warlords into the political
structure. Ethnic plurality, the root cause of endemic conflict in the
country, can be tackled by a federal structure that strikes a harmonious
balance between requirements of a strong centre and demands of the
provincial autonomy. A federal framework was avoided initially to avoid
duplication of functions and to discourage divisive tendencies which
needed to be avoided in the first place. But rights of ethnic groups are
more easily affirmed through federal arrangements. Different ethnic and
political groups share power at the federal level with provincial
representation. It is to be understood that the Taleban do enjoy a
significant support base particularly in the south and south-eastern
provinces and there is a possibility of disruption of government functions
by them. Whether a line of negotiation must be initiated with the
Taleban, and the moderate faction within the Taleban used as the link is a
highly debatable issue. A discussion on this is called for because the
Taleban mostly represents the Pashtuns, who are a significant section of
the ethnic mosaic of Afghanistan.
The complex tasks of peace-building involve multiple functions.
Diverse operations can be characterized in terms of a balance not only
between military and civilian components but also among sectors.
There are different levels at which peace-building in Afghanistan has to be
conducted and there has to be long-term as well as short-term goals. It is
quite clear that peace-building in Afghanistan cannot be achieved in a
short time and seven years is too short a time to expect beneficial results.
What can be sought for is a phased multi-task and multi-track peace-
building policy for Afghanistan which operates at different levels which
starts at the grassroots and continues up to the international level.
To be continued....