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Weekly Commentary:
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Anatomy of Antiestablishment Sentiments
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By Dr. Rauf Roashan
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Abstract:
Recently even Western media has started to criticize the Afghan
government
because of slow pace of economic recovery, deterioration of security and lack
of tangible results in its endeavors to implement reconstruction projects.
This article tries to dissect the problem as a whole in order to find some
of the reasons for the recent discontent with the administration in Afghanistan
and whether it is becoming a fashion to criticize. Are people jumping to conclusions
prematurely regarding the effectiveness of Mr. Karzai’s government?
Are
they ignoring the situations on the ground that have caused many of the problems?
Or perhaps a combination of inefficiency of the government coupled with imposed
insecurity have caused people to loose patience? Is there a need for a concerted
plan regarding the war on terror including non-military solutions, or is there
really a military solution in sight?.. .more
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Archives
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 University of Hartford to Form Alliance in Afghanistan Engineer Kishawarz,
a valued member of the Institute for Afghan Studies
has distinguished himself once again for undertaking
organization of this extremely useful project in
the field of education which would directly help
reconstruction of the country by its own educated
youth. IAS extends its congratulations to him and
his team and commends his efforts.
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
Director, IAS
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| This is
a quick impression this scribe had from a short trip to Kabul, the
capital of Afghanistan from December 25, 2005 to January 4, 2006.
Grateful to the Afghan President for providing him this opportunity, he
has vowed to continue his unbiased and realistic observation and
scrutiny of Afghan affairs with the sole purpose of serving the cause
of the Afghan nation. It is a welcome coincidence that the leadership
in Afghanistan also wishes for the integrity of this column to remain
intact while the writer will continue to post his objective
commentaries on Afghan issues. The writer has found the Afghan
leadership to be open minded and receptive to genuine input of views
and opinions. Read...
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Historical Research Corner
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| Recent Analysis and Reports |
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| The
Stabilization, Democratization and Post-conflict
Development - Post 9/11 US state building project
in Afghanistan: |
| Akmal Dawi |
| The Need for Media Re-establishment after the Civil War in Afghanistan |
| Lutfullah Mashal |
| Afghanistan is not a
success storey |
| Faruq Achikzad |
| Kabul: An Eye
–Witness Account Pictures |
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Jan Mohammad
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| Why
Poverty Persists in Afghanistan? |
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Wali Shaaker
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| Assessing the Seismic
Hazards of Afghanistan |
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Harley Benz, Michael
Machette, Stuart Sipkin and Russell Wheeler April 2005
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| Following decades of strife and hardship,
Afghanistan is recovering and rebuilding. Reconstruction of the
country’s infrastructure and development of its natural resources are
progressing but are jeopardized by the omnipresent threat of strong,
damaging earthquakes to much of the country. |
| Assessing the Seismic
Hazards of Afghanistan |
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Harley Benz, Michael
Machette, Stuart Sipkin and Russell Wheeler April 2005
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| Following decades of strife and hardship,
Afghanistan is recovering and rebuilding. Reconstruction of the
country’s infrastructure and development of its natural resources are
progressing but are jeopardized by the omnipresent threat of strong,
damaging earthquakes to much of the country. |
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Urban
Development in Kabul
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Dr. Annette Ittig
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Globally, urban populations have doubled since the
1980s, and the developing world in particular is rapidly urbanizing.
This trend is also seen in Afghanistan, where some 30% of the people
are thought to live in urban or periurban centers. Afghanistan’s
urbanization has accelerated following the country’s dramatic regime
changes over the past three years. Kabul City, for example, has grown
from some 500,000 people in 2001 to an estimated 3,000,000 at the end
of 2004. It is in Kabul that the country’s most significant urban
challenges are seen, including rapid population growth, the destruction
of much of the city’s physical infrastructure due to war and lack of
maintenance, land tenure issues, a sharp increase in land prices and
rents, a shortage of low-income housing and a high rate of
unemployment. Although Urban Infrastructure is a priority National
Development Program in Afghanistan’s National Development Framework,
donors tend to view development through a rural perspective. Urban
development is therefore not presently a donor priority for
Afghanistan, and such monies as are available for urgent urban
infrastructure needs and job creation schemes are not sufficiently
coordinated or strategic. This article provides overviews of Kabul’s
urban planning challenges and of the key players in the urban sector.
It also summarizes some of the strategies for the urban revitalization
process that will be essential to Afghanistan’s socio-economic
reconstruction. .... more
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Presentation to
Constitutional Commission of Afghanistan
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Barnett R. Rubin
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Presentations by IAS Advisory Board Member, Professor
Rubin of Center on International Cooperation, New York University. The
speech was delivered on June 5, 2003 to the Constitutional Commission
of Afghanistan in Kabul. ....more
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Avoiding the
Pitfalls of a Traditional Legislature: An Alternative Approach
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Dr. Walid Majid, Ph.D.
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One of the fundamental tenets of a modern Republican
system of government is the separation of power and an effective system
of checks and balances among them. The traditional implementation of
this principle has been the creation of a system of government
consisting of the three independent branches, the executive,
legislative and the judicial branch. ....more
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Jirga - A
Traditional Mechanism of Conflict Resolution in Afghanistan
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By Dr. Ali Wardak
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This paper examines the institution of
jirga, its main forms, and the different social contexts in which each
form operates as a mechanism of conflict resolution in Afghanistan. It
is argued that jirga as a traditional Afghan institution is closely
bound up with the social and economic realities of every day life in
Afghanistan and is deeply rooted in the culture and history of the
people of the country. ....more
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Pros and Cons of
Federalism in Afghanistan |
By Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
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exist little reliable statistics to show the composition of population
in the country. Estimates are widely varying according to the
sources that make them. For example the majority Pashtuns make
from 40 to 54 per cent of the population while the closest minority of
Tajiks are estimated anywhere between 30 to 38 percent. Next in
percentage is the Hazara Afghans who make between 8 to 15 percent. ....more
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| Innovative
Methods Can Thwart Afghan Warlords |
By
James O'Brian
USA Today
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In
Afghanistan, the warlords are fighting each other again, as they have
for decades. Their rivalries threaten the peace our soldiers won. Their
violence could cost the lives of Americans now guarding President Hamid
Karzai. ....more
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National
Development Framework |
Draft for
Consultation
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| prepared for
the Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority (AACA):
There
is a consensus in Afghan society: violence as a means of compelling the
majority to submit to the will of minority must end. The people's
aspirations must be represented and reflected in an accountable
government that delivers value on a daily basis. ....more |
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I am a member of the Loya Jirga’s
silent majority – or rather, silenced majority – who came to Kabul
expecting to shape our nation’s future but instead find ourselves being
dragged back into the past. We came from all parts of the
country to claim our freedom and democracy, but instead are being met
with systematic threats and intimidation aimed at undermining our free
choice. ....more and
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| Afghanistan’s
economy being ravaged almost completely, its reconstruction has to be
started ipso facto from scratch or “Tabula raza”. The pattern of
reconstruction chosen will determine the direction of the consequent
political, social, and economic character of the Afghan society. Every
precautionary measures must be taken to adduce this economy to the path
of highest possible rate of growth with its benefit distributed
equitably among all strata of the Afghan community, securing for the
country as a whole a long lasting peace and stability. ....more |
| They write:
"Economic and social
issues such as education cannot await a political settlement. The
absence or weakness of institutions is one of the causes of the
conflict and makes any purely political settlement difficult if not
impossible. Hence efforts at reconstruction and institution and
institution building need to precede and act as a catalyst for
political agreements rather then reverse...more |
| This is becoming a familiar
pattern -- the US makes a mess of things and the UN is forced to come
in and clean up, but without the political or military muscle to get
the job done. Then when it blows up several months or years
later, we the blame while the US is busy bombing elsewhere. UN
field officer.
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| It is a fact that for as long as
history remembers, human societies in their long historical evolution
have used councils and meetings to decide on issues that directly
impacted their lives within their families, villages, tribes and
regions. Even prehistoric man used councils in deciding how to
deal with the wild that threatened his life or how to deal with natural
calamities or even hostile neighboring tribes. But in Afghanistan’s
history councils have played a greater role for a number of reasons
that will be explained in this paper. ....more |
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By Halima Kazem
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This is Kabul!
Institute
for Afghan Studies
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| I am having the experience of my
life here in Kabul. Landing in Kabul Valley, in the middle of the
beautiful Hindu Kush Mountains was a surreal feeling. It still hasn't
hit me that I am in Afghanistan, a place that existed only in my
dreams. I thought I would feel homesick but the moment I landed in
Kabul Airport I felt the majestic mountains embrace me like a long lost
mother and the battered but resilient ground support me like a brave!
father. ....more
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By Aziz
Babakarkhail
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| Afghan Economy
in the War and Pre-War Period Institute for Afghan Studies |
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It is of paramount importance to know that democratic
political institutions had existed in the country to shape political
affairs prior to president Dauod took over in 1973 in a coup d'etat;
constitutional monarchy was abolished and Daoud announced himself as
president of the Afghan Republic. The coup d'etat since then has
developed to be a major and decisive component in the Afghan political
culture. During the Russians' invasion, several Soviet .
....more
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| Special Model
of Provisional Government for Afghanistan |
By
Dr. Nour Ali
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| In order for the contemplated
transitional government to succeed to bring about in Afghanistan a
democratic system of political power fit for the country, the existence
of an effective state apparatus with appropriate state institutions is
indispensable. Such a state apparatus, while ensuring continuity in the
normal conduct of the country's public affairs, would take necessary
steps towards transition to democracy by legalizing all the required
freedoms including those of assembly, of association for political
parties, of access to media and of organizing competitive elections.
....more
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Current Affairs
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Projects:
KARZAI'S STATE-OF-THE-NATION SPEECH
Radio Afghanistan (Dari and Pashto)
Kabul, Afghanistan
April 8, 2003
In his state-of the-nation address Afghan leader Hamed
Karzai criticized his government for its shortcomings, its failure to
provide security by setting up a ....more
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Reconstruction
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Reconstructing Peace in
Afghanistan By: Omar Zakhilwal The deterioration of the Afghan nation began with the
Soviets’ installation of a communist regime in Kabul in 1978 and their
subsequent invasion of the country in 1979. ....more |
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Tokyo
Donor Conference on Reconstruction
of Afghanistan Falls Short of Expectations!
By:
Institute for Afghan Studies The Tokyo conference fell
short of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's goal of raising USD 10
billion over the next 5 years.. ....more
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Loya Jirga
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AFFIDAVIT Before Almighty
God, and in the presence of all those people here, I declare that I am
fully cogni-zant of the electoral proce-dures for the
Emergency Loya Jirga, that I subscribe to the values and principles of
the Bonn Agreement, that I have no links to terrorist groups, that I am
not...more
AFGHANISTAN
AFTER THE LOYA JIRGA
By Dr. Omar
Zakhilwal Then
I do see the possibility of a return to a situation in which not only
the restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan may become a lost
cause but the realized victory against the Taliban and Al-Qaida may
also fall in jeopardy. ...more
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Economy
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Economy Overview Afghanistan is
an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming and
livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have
played second fiddle to political
more»
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Afghanistan:
Natural Resources and Energy
Afghanistan's significance from an energy standpoint stems from its
geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and natural
gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This potential
includes the possible construction of oil and natural gas export
pipelines through Afghanistan, which was under serious consideration in
the mid-1990s.
more»
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Constitution
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The 1976
Constitution of President Daud |
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The 1964
Constitution of King Zaher Shah |
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Communist
Era Constitution |
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more >>
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expressed in the contributed papers are that of the writer (s) and are
not necessarily shared by the Institute for Afghan Studies (IAS).
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content of contributed material and external links. Please review
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