Situating Workable Response continues....

Afghanistan, after decades of conflict, is a volatile state that has

witnessed watershed elections and important infrastructure rebuilding in

its post-2001 phase; while much work remains to be done, significant

progress has been achieved. Although, a number of disturbing and countervailing trends are evident: the actual influence and control of the

newly elected government of Hamid Karzai extends only weakly beyond

the outskirts of Kabul; ethno-linguistic fragmentation is on the rise; an

increasingly sophisticated insurgency threatens the stability. Large areas of

Afghanistan are still ruled by warlords/druglords; and, this is the most

formidable challenge for the long-term stability of the country. The

country is fast approaching a narco-state status with its opium production

and transit that gives it the dubious status of being the largest producer of

opium in the world. Most troubling of these trends, is the persistence of

old patterns of identity politics in the seemingly new Afghan context. The

problem of regional militias and the influence of the warlords, many

fuelled by lucrative drug production and trade, is a colossal problem.

Scholars on Afghan Studies, argue that Afghanistan’s transition would not

have taken place were it not for the Al-Qaeda attack on the USA on 11

September 2001. Previously, the internal processes were not in a position

to unseat the Taleban and are not being able to unify the nation after their

fall. As a result, the Taleban remnants have managed to regroup and are

presently engaged in insurgency activities primarily targeting police,

international aid workers and troops. It can therefore be questioned as to

whether Afghanistan at present qualifies to be termed as a “post-conflict”

society.

Afghanistan’s political history shows that the advent of conflict in

Afghanistan cannot be attributed merely to the Soviet intervention in the

year 1979. As discussed in the first chapter of the thesis, conflict in various

forms existed much before the Soviets set foot on the Afghan soil and

conflict persists even after the Soviet soldiers left Afghanistan. It is an

error, common to most western analysts, to pin point the Soviet

intervention to be the start of war and conflict in the country.

To be continued...