CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LIBERAL PEACEBUILDING AS A COUNTERINSURGENCY STRATEGY IN POST-CONFLICT PLACES: AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

Since the military analysts, as well as peacebuilders, started to view democratization, rule of law, and economic reconstruction as the panacea to enable security and peace in post-conflict places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been possible to assert that there is a structural symbiosis between the principles and goals of peacebuilding and counterinsurgency. The basic criticism of this symbiotic relationship is the use of peacebuilding as a justification to maintain political support for military sides of campaigns. However, these normative efforts of interveners mostly neglect local perceptions and structures of post-conflict states due to expectations for easy and early success, which lead them to pragmatic solutions. These pragmatic solutions cause deterioration in the social and economic situation of host nations. In this regard, the research herein tries to reveal how normative peacebuilding efforts as counterinsurgency could aggravate existing flawed social and political structures causing an inequality between ruling elites and ordinary citizens of post-conflict environments, using Afghanistan as a case study.

Keywords

• Peacebuilding,Statebuilding,Afghanistan,Counterinsurgency,Inequality

BİR KARŞI AYAKLANMA YÖNTEMİ OLARAK LİBERAL BARIŞ İNŞASININ ELEŞTİREL ANALİZİ: AFGANİSTAN

Abstract

Barış inşası için çalışan uzmanlar kadar askerî analistlerin de demokratikleşme, hukukun üstünlüğü, ve ekonomik yapının yeniden inşasını barış ve güvenliğin tesisi için her derde deva bir çare olarak görmeye başladıklarından beri, esasları ve amaçları bakımından barış inşası ve karşı ayaklanma arasında simbiyotik bir ilişki olduğunu iddia etmek mümkündür. Bu simbiyotik ilişkiye yöneltilen en önemli ilişki barış inşasının yürütülen askerî faaliyetler için siyasi destek sağlamak adına kullanılmasıdır. Ancak, müdahalede bulunan ülkelerin izledikleri normatif çabalar büyük ölçüde yerel algıları ve çatışma sonrası ülkelerin yapılarını pragmatik bir bakış açısı ile kolay ve erken başarı elde etmek adına görmezden gelmektedirler.  Bu pragmatik yaklaşımlar, ev sahibi ülkenin sosyal ve ekonomik yapılarına zarar vermektedir. Bu bağlamda; bu çalışma, karşı ayaklanmanın bir parçası olarak normatif barış inşası çabalarının, Afganistan örneği üzerinden, yönetici elitler ile normal vatandaşlar arasında eşitsizliğe neden olarak zaten sorunlu olan sosyal ve politik yapıyı daha da kötüleştirebileceğini ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Barış İnşası,Devlet İnşası,Afganistan,Karşı Ayaklanma,Eşitsizlik

References

1. Adamec L.W. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. 3rd ed. Oxford; Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
2. Ahmed A. (2015, Mar 18). Afghan First Vice President, an Ex-Warlord, Fumes on the Sidelines. International New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/world/asia/afghan-first-vice-president-an-ex-warlord-fumes-on-the-sidelines.html?_r=0 (accessed 14/10/2016).
3. ANDS (2006). Afghanistan National Development Strategy: An Interim Strategy for Security, Governance, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction. IMF.
4. ANDS (2008). Afghanistan National Development Strategy (2008-2013). Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. ATP 1-06.2, The Commanders’ Emergency Response Program (CERP). Washington, DC: Headquarters Department of the Army.
5. Barfield T.J. (2010). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
6. Barfield T. J. (2012). Shari’a in Afghanistan. The Review of Faith & International Affairs. 10, no. 4, 45-52.
7. Bellamy A. J. (2009). Understanding Peacekeeping. ([S.l.]: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
8. Bergen P. and Lalwani S. (2009, Oct 2). Putting the 'I' in Aid. The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/opinion/02bergen.html?_r=0 (accessed 27/09/2019).

9. Boutros-Ghali B. (1992). An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy and Other Matters. New York: United Nations.
10. Brahimi A. (2010). The Taliban's Evolving Ideology. London: LSE Global Governance.
11. Carberry S. (2012, Jul 08). Kabul, a City Stretched Beyond Its Limits. NPR. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/08/156393366/kabul-a-city-stretched-beyond-its-limits (accessed 16/10/2016).
12. Carpenter J. (2015, May 15). The Response Letter to SIGAR. Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
13. Cookman C. and Wadhams C. (2010). Governance in Afghanistan: Looking Ahead to What We Leave Behind. Centre for American Progress.
14. Crilly R. (2014, Feb 20). US General Criticised over Photo-Op Eighth Afghan Cop Accused of Human Rights Abuses. The Telegraph.
15. Cromartie A. (2012). Field Manual 3-24 and the Heritage of Counterinsurgency Theory. Millennium - Journal of International Studies. 41, no. 1.
16. CSO (2014). The National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment 2011-12. Central Statistics Organization of Afghanistan.
17. Dixon P. (2009). “Hearts and Minds”? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq. Journal of Strategic Studies. 32, no. 3, 353-81.
18. Dorronsoro G. (1995). Afghanistan's Civil War. Current History. 94, no. 588.
19. Durch W.J. et al. (2003). The Brahimi Report and the Future of UN Peace Operations. Washington: The Henry L. Stimson Center.
20. Eikenberry K. (2014). The American Calculus of Military Intervention. Survival. 56, no. 3, 264-71.
21. Eronen O. (2008). PRT Models in Afghanistan: Approaches to Civil-Military Integration. CMC Finland Civilian Crisis Management Studies. 1, no. 5/2008 (2008).
22. Evans G.J. (2008). The Responsibility to Protect : Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and for All. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2008.
23. Farrell T. and Rynning S. (2010). NATO's Transformation Gaps: Transatlantic Differences and the War in Afghanistan. The Journal of Strategic Studies. 33, no. 5.
24. Farrell T. and Antonio G. (2013). The Taliban at War: Inside the Helmand Insurgency, 2004–2012. International Affairs. 89, no. 4, 845-71.
25. Fishstein P. and Wilder A. (2012). Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan. Tuft University Feinstein International Centre.
26. FM 3-24 (2014). Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies. Headquarters Department of the Army Washington, DC.
27. Gass S. (2012). Press Briefing with NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.
28. Gauster M. (2008). Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. George C. Marshall Centre.
29. Giustozzi A. (2008). Shadow Ownership and Ssr in Afghanistan. In Local Ownership and Security Sector Reform, ed. Tim Donnais, Zurich/Berlin: The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
30. Giustozzi A. and Isaqzadeh M. (2013). Policing Afghanistan: The Politics of the Lame Leviathan. London: Hurst & Company.
31. Gutcher L. (2013, Jan 25). Your Own Narco-Palace in Sunny Kabul. The National.
32. http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/the-life/your-own-narco-palace-in-sunny-kabul (accessed 17/08/2016).
33. Hanifi M.J. (2004). Editing the Past: Colonial Production of Hegemony through the “Loya Jerga” in Afghanistan. Iranian Studies. 37, no. 2, 295-322.
34. Hastings M. (2011, Feb 2). King David's War. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/king-davids-war-20110202?page =2(accessed 28/09/2016).
35. Heathershaw J. and Lambach D. (2008). Introduction: Post-Conflict Spaces and Approaches to Statebuilding. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. 2, no. 3, 269-89
36. Hehir A. (2010). Humanitarian Intervention: An Introduction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
37. Herold M.W. (2010). Afghanistan: Wealth, Corruption and Criminality amidst Mass Poverty. Afghanistan: Wealth, Corruption and Criminality Amidst Mass Poverty. Centre for Research on Globalization.
38. Howard M. (2007). A Long War? Survival. 48, no. 4, 7-14.
39. Hunt L. (2013, Sep 24). Former Warlord Orimed for Afghan Presidency. The Diplomat. http://thediplomat.com/2013/09/former-warlord-primed-for-afghan-presidency/ (accessed 09/10/2016)
40. Jalali A.A. (2007), The Legacy of War and the Challenge of Peace Building. In Building a New Afghanistan, ed. Robert I. Rotberg. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
41. Jeong M. (2014, Jun 19). Kabul's City on the Hill. International New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/opinion/kabuls-city-on-the-hill.html?_r=0 (accessed 17/09/2016).
42. Jones D.M. and Smith M.L.R. (2010). Whose Hearts and Whose Minds? The Curious Case of Global Counter-Insurgency. Journal of Strategic Studies, 33, no. 1, 81-121.
43. Kilcullen D. (2010). Counterinsurgency. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
44. Kühn F.P. (2012). Risk and Externalisation in Afghanistan – Why Statebuilding Upends State-Formation. In Statebuilding and Stateformation, ed. B. Bliesemann de Guevara, London: Routledge.
45. Kühn F.P. and Turner M. (2012). Introduction: Peacebuilding, Peace Operations and Regime Change Wars, International Peacekeeping. 19, no. 4, 393-5.
46. Larsen H.B. (2013 December). NATO in Afghanistan: Democratization Warfare, National Narratives, and Budgetary Austerity. Discussion Paper 2013-10. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.
47. Lewis A. (1996, February 19). Abroad at Home; and We Walked Away. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/19/opinion/abroad-at-home-and-we-walked-away.html (accessed 23/08/2016).
48. Mac Ginty R. (2014). Everyday Peace: Bottom-up and Local Agency in Conflict-Affected Societies. Security Dialogue. 45, no. 6, 548-64.
49. Maley W. (2002). The Afghanistan Wars. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
50. Mann M. (2003). Incoherent Empire. London; New York: Verso.
51. Martin M. (2014). An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict, 1978-2012. London: Hurst & Co.
52. Mayr W. (2010, Sep 22). Exotic Birds in a Cage: Criticism Grows of Afghanistan's Bloated NGO Industry. Der Spiegel http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/exotic-birds-in-a-cage-criticism-grows-of-afghanistan-s-bloated-ngo-industry-a-718656.html (accessed 17/09/2016).
53. McLeary P. (2015). Afghan Watchdog: Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Can’t Be Found. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/31/pentagon-ig-outlines-billions-in-us-afghancontractorspending/?utm_content=buffer32db3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer (accessed 17/09/2016)
54. Mukhopadhyay D. (2009). Warlords as Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience. Washington, D. C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
55. Nijat A. (2014). Governance in Afghanistan. Kabul, Afghanistan: AREU.
56. Nojumi N. (2003). Reconstruction and Religious Freedom in the New Afghanistan. The Brandywine Review of Faith & International Affairs. 1, no. 1, 31-8.
57. Nojumi N. (2008). The Rise and Fall of the Taliban. In The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan, eds. Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi, USA: Harvard University Press.
58. Osinga F. and Russell J. (2013). Conclusion: Military Adaptation and the War in Afghanistan. In Military Adaptation in Afghanistan, eds. T Farrell, F Osinga, and J Russell Stanford University Press.
59. Pugh M. (2012). Reflections on Aggressive Peace, International Peacekeeping, 19, no. 4: 410-25.
60. Porter G. (2011). How McChrystal and Peraeus Built an Indiscriminate 'Killing Machine'.
61. Rashid A. (2002). Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia. London: Tauris.
62. Rashid A. (2002). Afghan Warlords Return to Their Old Ways after Helping to Oust Taliban with U.S. Aid. The Wall Street Journal 2002, January 16, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1011140225604171520 (accessed 15/11/2016).
63. Rashid A. (2008). Descent into Chaos: The US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. Penguin Group US.
64. Rasmussen S.E. (2015). Kandahar City Power Project in Jeopardy. The Guardian.http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr /24/kandahar-city-usaid-afghanistan-power-project-jeopardy-sigar (accessed 17/08/2016).
65. Richmond O.P. (2013). Failed Statebuilding Versus Peace Formation. Cooperation and Conflict. 48, no. 3, 378-400.
66. Richmond O.P. (2013). Peace Formation and Local Infrastructures for Peace. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political.
67. Roy O. (1990). Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
68. Roy O. (1998). Has Islamism a Future in Afghanistan? In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban, ed. William Maley, Washington Square, NY: New York University Press.
69. Rubin B.R. (1992). Political Elites in Afghanistan: Rentier State Building, Rentier State Wrecking. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 24, no. 1, 77-99.
70. Saikal A. (1998). Afghanistan's Ethnic Conflict. Survival. 40, no. 2 (1998): 114-26.
71. Saikal A., Farhadi A. G. R. and Nourzhanov K. (2004) Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival, London: I. B. Tauris.
72. Semple M. (2014). Rhetoric, Ideology, and Organizational Structure of the Taliban Movement. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
73. Shahrani N. M. (1986). State Building and Social Fragmentation in Afghanistan: A Historical Perspective, in the State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics, eds. Ali Banuazizi and Myron Weiner, USA: Syracuse University Press.
74. Sharan T. (2011). The Dynamics of Elite Networks and Patron–Client Relations in Afghanistan. Europe-Asia Studies. 63, no. 6: 1109-27.
75. SIGAR (2015 April). Department of Defence Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP): Priorities and Spending in Afghanistan for Fiscal Years 2004 – 2014.
76. Skocpol T. (1995). Sociology's Historical Imagination, in Vision and Method. In Historical Sociology, ed. T. Skocpol, New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
77. Sopko J.F. (2015, Apr 17). The Letter of Sigar to Usaid. The Letter of SIGAR to USAID.
78. Starkey J. (2011, Nov 7). The Fairytale World of ‘Poppy Palaces’ Ends in a Price Crash as Western Money Moves On. The Times.
79. www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/afghanistan/article3218065.ece+&cd=1&hl=tr&ct=clnk&gl=uk (accessed 17/11/2016).
80. Suhrke A. (2006). When More Is Less: Aiding Statebuilding in Afghanistan. FRIDE.
81. Suhrke A. (2008). A Contradictory Mission? NATO from Stabilization to Combat in Afghanistan. International Peacekeeping. 15, no. 2, 214-36.
82. Sullivan D.P. (2007). Tinder, Spark, Oxygen, and Fuel: The Mysterious Rise of the Taliban. Journal of Peace Research. 44, no. 1, 93-108.
83. Turner M. (2015). Peacebuilding as Counterinsurgency in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Review of International Studies, 41, no. 01, 73-98.
84. ICISS (2001). The Responsibility to Protect. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Canada.
85. US Department of State (2009). U.S. Government Counterinsurgency Guide. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
86. Vennard M. (2015). Afghanistan Bans Street Begging. BBC News,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7714735.stm (accessed 22/09/2016).
87. Wahab S. and Youngerman B. (2006). A Brief History of Afghanistan. New York: Facts on File.
88. Walsh D. (2014, Nov 8). Powerful Afghan Police Chief Puts Fear in Taliban and Their Enemies. The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/world/asia/powerful-afghan-police-chief-puts-fear-in-taliban-and-their-enemies-.html?_r=0 (accessed 12/11/2016).