Democratizing Afghanistan: An Analysis of Foreign Implementation Efforts and the Obstacles Preventing Success

For nearly a century, the United States has attempted to influence countries abroad, hoping to create democratic governments where they do not already exist. Whether or not these attempts have been successful, the U.S. continues to pursue the ideal of democracy, particularly in post-conflict regions or in countries suffering from ongoing conflict. This is no different in Afghanistan. In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., the U.S. launched the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan with the goal of eradicating both al Qaeda and the Taliban. After a swift military victory, the U.S., its allies, and Afghanistan signed the Bonn Agreement, establishing guidelines to create a new representative, democratic government that would hopefully flourish in the following years. However, thirteen years later, the region is still fraught with violence and corruption, and democracy is far from legitimate or functioning. This should inspire U.S. policymakers to look deeper into why democracy has not found a welcoming home in Afghanistan—is it Afghanistan, its troublesome history, its ethnic divides, and its recurring flirtation with terrorism, or is it a failure on the part of the U.S. and its allies? In order to answer this question, my thesis will first explain how democracy promotion came to be such a prominent aspect of American foreign policy, how it has morphed through time, and how effective it has been in different countries and situations. After describing the history of democratization, both in general and in Afghanistan, my thesis will move to describe and analyze the various impediments to Afghan democracy that are currently in place. By listing and explaining what has been responsible for undermining democracy in Afghanistan, the reader will then be able to understand if there are any possible solutions that could remove or circumvent these impediments, and whether or not the United States and its allies can be involved in such solutions. Finally, this paper will discuss the past attempts at democracy implementation in Afghanistan since the enactment of the Bonn Agreement and detail the successes and failures of these efforts. Essentially, it is clear that these three elements come together to explain that even a massive U.S. and allied effort is not enough to simultaneously stem the tide of Taliban insurgency, overcome a history of instability and entrenched ethnic divides, and successfully complete reconstruction efforts. However, there is a chance that, in the distant future, the general population of Afghanistan could rise up against the Taliban, against the warlords corrupting the government, and against poverty and illiteracy so that the country can move toward an organic democracy, with the terms, pace, and structure dictated by the Afghan citizens.Bachelor of Art

IS NATION BUILDING DEAD?

This thesis explores the recent nation-building failure experienced by the United States in Afghanistan and compares it to the nation-building success achieved by the UN in Namibia. The comparison shows that nation-building success does not depend only on the actions of foreign actors, but also on the will of the target country and surrounding territories. This thesis shows that an in-depth study of Namibia by UN officials allowed for efficient and effective operations inside the country. These operations were helped along by a desire for change shared by the Namibian people and an agreed-upon and enforced ceasefire between Namibia and South Africa. The operation in Afghanistan lacked all of these key necessities and therefore struggled to unite the people or even understand what it was the people desired. In order to succeed in future nation-building operations, the United States should refrain from attempting nation-building in a kinetic environment and only begin once a firm understanding of the environment and the goals have been achieved.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Explaining varieties of corruption in the Afghan justice sector

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. Judicial reform in Afghanistan is seriously undermined by systemic corruption that has resulted in low legitimacy of the state and weak rule of law. This article reviews the main shortcomings in the Afghan justice system with reference to 70 interviews conducted in Kabul. Building on legal pluralism and a political economic approach, the shortcomings and causes and consequences of corruption in the Afghan justice sector are highlighted. These range from low pay, resulting in bribery; criminal and political intrusion into the judiciary; non-adherence to meritocracy, with poorly educated judges and prosecutors; and low funding in the judicial sector resulting in weak case tracking and human rights abuses in the countryside. This is followed by sociological approaches: understanding corruption from a non-Western approach and emphasis on religion, morality and ethics in order to curb it

Endoglin Is Essential for the Maintenance of Self-Renewal and Chemoresistance in Renal Cancer Stem Cells.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a deadly malignancy due to its tendency to metastasize and resistance to chemotherapy. Stem-like tumor cells often confer these aggressive behaviors. We discovered an endoglin (CD105)-expressing subpopulation in human RCC xenografts and patient samples with a greater capability to form spheres in vitro and tumors in mice at low dilutions than parental cells. Knockdown of CD105 by short hairpin RNA and CRISPR/cas9 reduced stemness markers and sphere-formation ability while accelerating senescence in vitro. Importantly, downregulation of CD105 significantly decreased the tumorigenicity and gemcitabine resistance. This loss of stem-like properties can be rescued by CDA, MYC, or NANOG, and CDA might act as a demethylase maintaining MYC and NANOG. In this study, we showed that Endoglin (CD105) expression not only demarcates a cancer stem cell subpopulation but also confers self-renewal ability and contributes to chemoresistance in RCC

Debatte vertagt? Militär- und Sicherheitsfirmen in deutschen Auslandseinsätzen

"Auch Deutschland vergibt zunehmend Aufträge an private Sicherheitsfirmen bei zivilen, polizeilichen und militärischen Auslandseinsätzen. Die Bundesregierung will damit Kosten sparen, die Effektivität von Auslandseinsätzen steigern und die Bundeswehr entlasten. Doch diese Praxis ist riskant. Die Autoren zeigen anhand vieler Beispiele, dass die Privatisierung von Sicherheitsdienstleistungen nicht ausreichend demokratisch kontrolliert ist, in Einsatzländern zu mehr Unsicherheit führen und die Legitimität internationaler Vertreter und Institutionen des Gastlandes gefährden kann. Sie fordern eine öffentliche Debatte über Vor- und Nachteile des Einsatzes von Sicherheitsfirmen sowie neue Gesetze, um Firmen zu kontrollieren und Rechtssicherheit zu schaffen." (Autorenreferat

Operation Moshtarak and the manufacture of credible, “heroic” warfare

Richard Lance Keeble argues that Fleet Street’s coverage of the Afghan conflict has served largely to promote the interests of the military/industrial/media complex – and marginalise the views of the public who have consistently appealed in polls for the troops to be brought back hom

Resolving Ethical Challenges in an Era of Persistent Conflict

The character of irregular warfare has challenged the American “way of war” in a number of ways. Not only does it challenge how U.S. forces fight, it also brings into question the ethical norms that they employ to govern the fighting. The resulting confusion is especially evident in the public debate over the use of force in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, traditional just war thinking has permitted collateral damage that has undermined the civil order that those military operations are intended to impose, while at the same time has prohibited Soldiers from killing or detaining the enemy who threatens that order in the first place. These counterintuitive outcomes suggest that the traditional view needs to be revised in light of the demands of combating irregular threats. Revising this view will have to take into account the emphasis that combating irregular threats places on populations rather than on military capability. In doing so, it expands the ends and means of war requiring Soldiers to not only defend the state, but to impose civil-order outside the state as well. These complications fundamentally change the character of warfare and require Soldiers to rethink where they may accept and place risk when balancing the ethical demands of their profession. This point has important implications for the way the United States should fight irregular wars and the norms they should employ to govern them.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1579/thumbnail.jp

Constitutions Inside Out: Outsider Interventions in Domestic Constitutional Contests

Increased interactions among peoples and states combined with the growth of written constitutions are creating new opportunities for “extra-territorial” forms of constitutional interpretation, that is, the interpretation of domestic constitutions by “outsiders.” This article considers the potential benefits, and dangers, of outsider interpretation. It also identifies factors relevant to the appropriateness or legitimacy of such practices, drawing from analogous rules and doctrines developed in the context of U.S. federalism and international law

The 'Global War on Terror'

The war on terror is a peculiar type of conflict: at times it involves military operations, subject to international humanitarian law, but for the most part it consists of law-enforcement action, bound to observe international human rights law. • In times of war or other public emergencies, States can lawfully derogate from some of their human rights obligations. In times of peace, some measure of interference with certain rights may also be permitted to accommodate security concerns. The proportionality of such restrictions should, however, always be respected. • The war on terror has entailed arbitrary deprivations of life and liberty, the use of torture and degrading treatment against suspected terrorists, the supression of due process guarantees, unwarranted interference with the right to private life, freedom of expression and association, as well as restrictions on the rights of aliens. • The human rights cost of the global war on terror regards both the excesses of national policies and multilateral (especially UN) action