| ID | 128373 |
| Title Proper | Need for new policies in Afghanistan |
| Other Title Information | a European's perspective |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Fredholm, Michael |
| Publication | 2011. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | A decade has passed since the defeat of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, and it is hardly surprising that several member-states of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) wish to pull out their military forces from Afghanistan, or have already decided to do so. Yet, at first glance not even one of Afghanistaifs multiple problems appears to have been resolved. The Taliban insurgents remain a viable force, and violence regularly occurs throughout the country. The casual observer may well wonder whether the security assistance provided by the international coalition has been of any use at all. Indeed, the ISAF members in many ways appear to have followed contradictory and self-defeating policies in their valiant attempt to remake war-tom Afghanistan into a Western democracy overnight. While not all their efforts have been in vain, more could have been achieved if the realities of Afghanistan had been better understood by those who formulated ISAF policy. The reason for this failure in understanding the Afghan human landscape would seem to depend on two factors: first, an emphasis on do-good policies that included the immediate
introduction of democracy under a strong, central government - which appealed to Western voters but had already been proven futile or outright misguided in almost a century of Afghan attempts at state and nation-
building; second, the lack of a properly focused intelligence effort in Afghanistan, with sufficient resources and the goal to monitor conditions in the country instead of a single-minded focus on targeting in support
of actions against individual terrorists ("the War on Terror"). Or, put in different terms: while Westem military might initially was successfully brought to bear on the Taliban movement, the brain of the military was. |
| `In' analytical Note | Himalayan and Central Asian Studies Vol.15, No.1-2; Jan.-June 2011: p.54-75 |
| Journal Source | Himalayan and Central Asian Studies Vol.15, No.1-2; Jan.-June 2011: p.54-75 |
| Key Words | European Policy ; European Perspective ; International Security Assistance Force - ISAF ; United States - US ; United Nations - UN ; European Union - EU ; United Kingdom - UK ; NATO ; Western Power ; Military Strategy ; Taliban Insurgencies ; War on Terror ; Afghanistan ; Afghan Government ; Political Regime ; Afghan National Army ; National Policy ; Individual Terrorists ; Al-Qaeda ; Taliban's Regime |