Governing in a post-conflict society social fit
Abstract : The growing interconnectedness of nations through globalization, and the threat of international terrorism as a destabilizing force, has increased the international community's concern for stable governance in the developing world. In an era of globalization, with near instantaneous information flow, and a global court of international opinion, the options for governing a society in a post-conflict environment are limited. History is filled with rebellions, insurgencies, coups, invasions, and occupations that result in regime change or some sort of post-conflict intervention by the international community. In each case, prior to conflict there was an established order, or form of governance. After conflict, a new order or form of governance has to emerge. In these societies, a preconflict political and social order was disrupted, and a new post-conflict political and social order established. Ideally, the crafting of a new political and social order into effective governance requires the acceptance of the governed. As the United States remains committed to assisting nations with establishing governance and fostering stability, policy makers should consider the social acceptance of a post-conflict government by the people.
Recovering the frontier state : war, ethnicity, and state in Afghanistan
Chapter 1 Table of Contents Chapter 2 1 Introduction Chapter 3 2 Ethnicity, Political Power, and Fragmentation Chapter 4 3 Rise of the Taliban and Civil War Chapter 5 4 The United States and War on Terrorism Chapter 6 5 Restructuring the Afghan State Chapter 7 6 Political Economy of Drugs and Warlordism Chapter 8 7 Afghanistan and Neighboring States Chapter 9 8 Conclusion Chapter 10 Bibliography
From war economy to peace economy
The dearth of empirically-based research on the war economy. Policies have frequently been based on limited data and questionable assumptions. The paucity of quantitative and qualitative data on the war economy has held back efforts to respond to the problem. Afghanistan has been an “orphaned conflict” for more than a decade – this applies not only to earlier international attempts to contain rather than resolve the conflict, but also to the lack of serious research inside the country. This paper draws upon a combination of primary research and secondary sources, however hard data is difficult to come by and frequently unreliable. The rural economy remains to a large extent statistically unknown. Emerging policy is based therefore upon a limited understanding of the processes at work. There is an urgent need to “skill up” in terms of improving understanding through an investment in research and analysis.