When More is Less: Aiding Statebuilding in Afghanistan

Post-war reconstruction sometimes focus on what is commonly called statebuilding, i.e. establishing an effective, central state that operates under the rule of positive law and in accordance with contemporary standards of transparency and accountability. Post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan is such a case. The focus of the US-led intervention in November 2001 was to destroy a terrorist sanctuary. Statebuilding was seen as an instrument to deny the emergence of a future sanctuary. With previous state structures destroyed or neglected as a esult of 25 years of war, general upheavals and intermittent international sanctions, the reconstruction programme launched after the intervention placed statebuilding at its core. This report examines the nature of international and military assistance to this statebuilding.