PROGRAM

 

 

ABSTRACT
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MECHANISM IN
AFGHANISTAN
ZAFAR NAWAZ JASPAL

 

Afghanistan appears to be stuck in a no-exit cycle of chronic political instability despite the change of guards in Kabul and dislodging of Al Qaeda in 2001. President Karzai government has failed to establish writ in the country. The Operation Enduring Freedom has further deepened the ethnic divide and hatred in Afghan society. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), United States (US) and Afghan forces have failed to eliminate the Taliban phenomenon and Al Qaida network in the country. The foreign forces even failed to stabilize the capital city-Kabul. The situation out of Kabul remains volatile. Warlords from the pre-Taliban years have reemerged and established themselves as de facto power holders in many areas. The Americans superiority of weaponry seemed botched against insurgents. The butchering tactics of collision forces not only strengthen Pashtun’s resolve to resist, but has equally enhance the sympathies of their sympathizers. This perpetual cycle of violence is nourishing anarchy in the state. The promulgation of new constitution seems failed to institutionalize judicial settlement and obligatory processes.
The protracted asymmetrical warfare has been broadening the ethnic cleavages; giving rise to poverty; strengthening Islamic radicalism, Taliban and Al Qaida; increasing poppy cultivation and drug trade; and above all justifying suicidal trend in the terrorists’ activities within the Afghan society. This detrimental state of affair necessitates Conflict Management Mechanism (CMM) because a protracted conflict lingering over time with violent hostilities could not be resolved without a prerequisite prolonged and successful conflict management. The effective CMM would make conflict reduction and even resolution possible among the rival factions in Afghanistan.

Importantly, achieving conflict resolution and building the institutions that will make peace last require much time and effort on the part of adversaries. While making this effort, the likelihood of peace is uncertain, and preparations for conflict are ongoing. The objective of this study is to critically examine the ongoing CMM in Afghanistan and identify a supportive theoretical cum practical mechanism to augment the existing CMM process in Afghanistan. This study is divided into four sections. The first section deals with the conceptual framework. Second contains a brief review of current Afghanistan imbroglio. It is followed by the critical examination of existing or pre-attempts for CMM in the Afghanistan. The final section contains the recommendations for strengthening the CMM leading to sustainable peace in Afghanistan

*Paper presented in an International Workshop on Conflict Management Mechanisms and the Challenge of Peace organized by the Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Department of International Relations, University of Karachi in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad at the Arts Auditorium on November 26-27-2007

** Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad