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State legitimacy in Afghanistan and the role of the international community
2014
What does the literature identify as the main factors that support or undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan state? What evidence is there that the international community has influenced state legitimacy in Afghanistan over the past 12 years? What opportunities (and risks) are there for the international community to support state legitimacy in Afghanistan?
Recent Security Scenario in Afghanistan: Roles and Impacts of the ISAF and the Way Forward
BIISS Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2014
Contemporary security scenario in Afghanistan appears remote from achieving peace, security and stability in a country that has had been experiencing decades-long armed conflict, insurgency, extremism, terrorism and violence of all kinds. Lately, incidences of armed conflicts, insurgent and terrorist activities are on the rise leading to increased casualties and deaths of the civilians. Principal factors responsible for undermining security and stability in Afghanistan include, but not limited to the continuing insurgency by the Taliban fighters and the terrorism perpetrated by various militant armed groups based both in Afghanistan and across the border. The United States-led International Security Assistance Force, a multinational stabilisation force, on the other hand, is responsible to provide security and stability in Afghanistan since its deployment in 2001. After thirteen years of prolonged counter insurgency and counter terrorism efforts of the ISAF, Taliban insurgency is still showing remarkable strength and little sign of receding shortly making prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan very much obscure. After reviewing the recent security situation in Afghanistan, questions can be raised as to the roles of ISAF in Afghanistan and what are the impacts of their initiatives as insurgency and terrorism continue to bleed the country. The paper argues that lack of success on the part of ISAF in achieving its objectives in Afghanistan is explicitly evident given the rising state of insecurity and instability in recent times. The paper, however, also discusses the various challenges confronted by ISAF in continuing its operations in Afghanistan. At the end, the analysis exhibits some ways forward in achieving peace and security in Afghanistan and establishing sustainable democratic governance in the country.
2013
The mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizati on (NATO) in Afghanistan is seen by many as a test of the allian ce’s political will and military capabilities. The situation in Afghanistan has seen a rise in the ov rall level of violence due to increased Taliban military operatio ns, an increase in terrorist-related activities, and recent major offe nsive operations conducted by the allies. In August 2003, NATO took control of the Internatio nal Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. At the time of the takeover, the mission was centered on Kabul. Today ISAF is leadi ng the international operation in the whole of Afghanistan – known as Th eatre Command –, and the mission has evolved to become the most comp lex NATO has ever been engaged in. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Forc e (ISAF) faces serious obstacles: shoring up a weak government in Kabul; using military capabilities in a distant country with rugged terra in; and Rebuilding a country devastated b...
Perspectives on the success of the NATO mission in Afghanistan
The security and stability of Afghanistan depend on many factors, from which we should mention: security threat imposed by the insurgence groups, influence of its neighbors (especially of Pakistan), corrupted and ineffective government and low level of the economical development. Besides that, the key stability factor of Afghanistan is security perception of the local population, which could not be secured and guaranteed by current capacities of the elected government and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). In this security context, according to many analysts, these factors represent preconditions for the success of the insurgent campaign in Afghanistan. Despite insecurity and instability indicators mentioned above, the USA and NATO continue withdrawal of combat forces and handover of responsibilities over security to provincial authorities and ANSF. In this way, it seems that the US and NATO have used apparent tactical victories achieved during operations in southern Afghanistan conducted in 2010 and 2011, and the killing Osama bin Laden, to add legitimacy to the perceived partial strategic success of the mission in Afghanistan, justifying the accelerated 'achievements' of Lisbon Declaration provisions related to the international community's partnership with Afghanistan. Thus, this analysis shows that, if the "International community" continues ignoring realty that is taking place within the space of the "Central -Asian stabilization experiment", in that way there will be 2 preconditions that stable Afghanistan remains high on the list of "geo-politically endangered species", in the post-transition period.
NATO Mission in Afghanistan-An Appraisal
the future the tactical and the strategic outlook of NATO made the relationship difficult. Again, the fact became established that UN was able to work more efficiently in the 'peacekeeping' environment rather than a 'peacemaking' one.
International law studies, 2009
The opinions shared in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the U.S. Naval War College, the Dept. of the Navy, or Dept. of Defense. International Law Studies-Volume 85 The War in Afghanistan: A Legal Analysis Michael N. Schmitt (Editor) Stability Operations and Public International Law win war. I think our troops ought to be used to help overthrow the dictato r when it's in our best interests. But in this case [i.e., SomaliaJ it was a nation-building exercise. and same with Haiti. [2J I wouldn't have supported either.!
A Contradictory Mission? NATO from Stabilization to Combat in Afghanistan
International Peacekeeping, 2008
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2015
The end of 2014 marked the conclusion of the United States’ longest war, at least in the sense of its role as a direct combatant. The military intervention in 2001, continued as a NATO mission, sought to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist and insurgent groups in Afghanistan. The international community withdrew most of their troops and left only 13,500 non-combatant soldiers under the new NATO mission. Named the Resolute Support Mission, the mission is designed to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces. However, the number of troops and their non-combatant role could pose difficulties in terms of Afghanistan’s security. An increase in the number of troops and a shift back into a combatant role might be needed in the near future. Obviously, it would be very optimistic to assume that the Afghan National Security Forces could overcome the terrorist threat on their own, given that this was impossible even with almost 150,000 NATO troops present in the country. With the Afghan forces fully responsible for security issues, 2014 became the bloodiest year since 2001. Moreover, the Islamic State (in Iraq and the Levant) moved beyond the Middle East and became active and operational in Afghan soil during this time. They began to carry out attacks in the country, which led the Islamic State and the Taliban to declare jihad against one another. Afghanistan’s current security situation has implications beyond its national borders; it is a trans-boundary security threat af- fecting Central Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The situation now requires a common strategy from the international coalitions constituted to counter the Taliban and Islamic State, in order to fight these groups in the wider region.
The West can encourage legitimacy and accountability in Afghanistan
2010
This article is a contribution to the Boston Review debate on counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. It argues that when the problem is cast in combat terms—Afghanistan as a theater in the “war on terrorism”—the solutions are inevitably military. But the central problem in Afghanistan is political.