Schools for Conflict or for Peace in Afghanistan by Burde Dana.;

Author:Burde, Dana.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS017000, History/Asia/India & South Asia, POL012000, Political Science/Political Freedom & Security/International Security
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2014-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

The Limits of Stabilization Programs: Unequal Access

According to recent research, development aid, and in particular, provision of social services—usually loosely defined as improved provision of and access to education, health care, and security—is integral to undermining civilian support to insurgents and reducing violence.19 Local populations will favor the source of social services, increasing civilian willingness to support and share information with the provider and, in turn, reducing willingness to do the same for the nonprovider. Berman et al. (2011) cite information sharing as the key mechanism in hearts-and-minds strategies and argue that in this regard improving “quality of government services” is preferable to supporting “short term employment/job creation programs” (519). They find that a higher level of unemployment is correlated with fewer attacks against counterinsurgents and that “there is no significant relationship between unemployment and the rate of insurgent attacks that kill civilians” (496). Thus, although the research in this field is nascent, successful government provision of social services appears to be more closely linked to successful counterinsurgency operations than short-term employment programs.

In addition, if the local government is too weak to provide these services, there is a danger that insurgents will “fill the vacuum.” If NATO forces do not help the Afghan government provide services, insurgents may provide them instead, gaining influence over the population in the process. In this way, some rebel groups have garnered significant support and goodwill from local populations, as Hezbollah has in southern Lebanon. Indeed, the more effective insurgencies are at providing social services to their base, the greater their ability to conduct high-stakes attacks against the government or occupying forces (Berman and Laitin 2008:1944). This underscores the importance of counterinsurgents providing services successfully.

Development projects undertaken for development’s sake—as opposed to for strategic ends—appear to have a positive effect on attitudes toward the government in Afghanistan because their implementation is understood to be more equitable and because they address the population’s desires. The National Solidarity Program (NSP) is a nationwide development program that makes grants of up to $60,000 to community shuras (local councils) after they have decided what they need to promote development in their villages. Community boards decide collectively how to spend the money, typically prioritizing water pumps, roads, and other infrastructure. As noted above, construction projects are often favored by US military, since they are a visible and semipermanent representation of the assistance and goodwill offered by the government and outsiders to the local population. In relatively stable districts, male and female respondents in villages with NSP presence had more positive attitudes toward both local and central government officials (Beath et al. 2012). According to records of security incidents from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),* NSP villages were less likely to experience violent incidents, although the effect was more pronounced in the long term. In these districts, “the provision of development programs appears to make noncombatants more inclined to view government actors as working in their best interest, which in turn makes them less likely to support the insurgency” (Beath et al.

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