Center for American Progress Policy Paper Part II: Governance
Edward Kenney
Afghanistan Study Group Blogger
One of the hallmarks of a good policy paper is a full and accurate understanding of the problem the recommended policy aims to solve. The Center for American Progress (CAP)’s paper focuses on arguably the most problematic aspect of the current strategy, the problems of governance:
[The insurgents] primary strengths lie in their ability to capitalize on public discontent—especially in Pashtun areas in the south and east—and mobilize finances and arms through both cooption and coercion in opposition to the Karzai government’s abusive and exclusionary practices.
CAP recognizes that the insurgency takes up arms because of political grievances. Until some mechanism is created to address these grievances, security gains are likely to be temporary. Addressing the governance issue is also at the top of the CAP’s recommendations. They argue that the U.S. and International community should use leverage against the Karzai government to push for reforms. In particular the CAP would like to see less power concentrated at the executive branch. Although, we should not overestimate the ability of the U.S. to coerce the Afghan government to do its bidding.
