Why U.S. Efforts to Promote the Rule of Law in Afghanistan Failed

Promoting the rule of law in Afghanistan has been a major U.S. foreign policy objective since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Policymakers invested heavily in building a modern democratic state bound by the rule of law as a means to consolidate a liberal post-conflict order. Eventually, justice-sector support also became a cornerstone of counterinsurgency efforts against the reconstituted Taliban. Yet a systematic analysis of the major U.S.-backed initiatives from 2004 to 2014 finds that assistance was consistently based on dubious assumptions and questionable strategic choices. These programs failed to advance the rule of law even as spending increased dramatically during President Barack Obama's administration. Aid helped enable rent seeking and a culture of impunity among Afghan state officials. Despite widespread claims to the contrary, rule-of-law initiatives did not bolster counterinsurgency efforts. The U.S. experience in Afghanistan highlights that effective rule-of-law aid cannot be merely technocratic. To have a reasonable prospect of success, rule-of-law promotion efforts must engage with the local foundations of legitimate legal order, which are often rooted in nonstate authority, and enjoy the support of credible domestic partners, including high-level state officials

Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand

In recent years, Malaysian print and television media, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), as well as international NGOs and media, have reported the alleged mistreatment of Burmese migrants in Malaysia, along the Malaysia-Thailand border, and in southern Thailand. While the allegations which led to the preparation of this report are not new, the report’s content is based on first person accounts of extortion and trafficking in Malaysia and along the Malaysia- Thailand border. Committee information comes from experiences of Burmese refugees resettled in the United States and other countries. Malaysian Government officials continually deny such allegations. As reported recently in the Malaysia Star, ‘‘Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar also denied claims that thousands of illegal foreigners held at detention centres were ‘‘being sold off’’ to human trafficking syndicates. ‘I take offence with the allegation because neither the Malaysian Government nor its officials make money by selling people.’ ’’ However, on April 1, 2009, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan stated that an investigation has been launched. This is the first of three reports