Nation-Building Unraveled?: Aid, Peace and Justice in Afghanistan

by Antonio Donini, Norah Niland, Karin Wermester

Overview

*Uses Afghanistan as a case-study that can be applied internationally
*Contributors have direct political and human rights experience in the field

The prevailing wisdom about post-conflict reconstruction is centered on the notion of nation-building. In the globalized post-September 11th world, can military might and technological solutions foster stability by enforcing democracy from the outside?

Written by key practitioners and analysts involved in the Afghan crisis, Nation-Building Unraveled? explains how emerging international “ordering” practices affect the role and policy of international actors, such as United Nations agencies and international NGOs, their interaction with national authorities and local communities, and their ability to generate just and social outcomes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781565491809
Publisher:	Kumarian Press, Inc.
Publication date:	11/28/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Antonio Donini is Senior Researcher at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University.

Norah Niland worked in Afghanistan as the Senior UN Human Rights Advisor from January 1999 to June 2002. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Human Security at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Karin Wermester is currently working in the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office in the Sudan.

Table of Contents

1) Introduction - Antonio Donini, Norah Niland and Karin Wermester; 2) Afghanistan, War, Aid, and International Order- Nicholas Stockton

Part One: Governing the Periphery with Aid, Peace and Justice: From Fragmentation to Transition?; 3) The Politics of Peace-building: Year One: From Bonn to Kabul - J. Alexander Their; 4) Justice Postponed: The Marginalization of Human Rights in Afghanistan- Norah Niland; 5) The Struggle for Hearts and Minds: The Military, Aid and the Media- Kate Clark; 6) Afghan Women on the Margins of the Twenty-First Century- Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam

Part Two: Politics and Humanitarianism after September 11; 7) Principles, Politics and Pragmatism in the International Response to the Afghan Crisis- Antonio Donini; 8) The Dilemma of Humanitarianism in the Post-Taliban Transition-Alexander Costy; 9) Political Projects: Reform, Aid, and the State in Afghanistan-Nicholas Leader and Hanif Atmar; 10) Old Woods, New Paths and Diverging Choices for NGOs-Paul O’Brien; 11) Conclusion: Aid, Peace and Justice in a Re-Ordered World-Bruce D. Jones

Editorial Reviews

"Written with passion, with intellectual verve, and with stunning moral seriousness, the book is not only immensely important for its discussion of what actually happened in Afghanistan, and for its teasing out of the political and institutional implications of the Afghan experience for other 'humanitarian interventions' in the crisis zones, it is also a profound work about power in the twenty-first century."

"A volume that speaks to its title. . .an excellent account which demonstrates the worth of subjecting foreign policy to rigorous challenge from the ground up."

"An important, highly readable book that tackles one of the most significant items on the international agenda."

"Rarely does a book appear with this much insight and crucial, real-time information about a crisis still in progress."

"Topics apply to Iraq, and also Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans which have fallen off the front pages."

"In order to broaden its perspective, Nation-Building Unraveled? draws on the Afghan example as a case-study that can be applied to other areas in the world, where the international community faces similar challenges. It provocatively questions the traditional point of view that greater coordination between political, humanitarian and human rights action brings about better results in peace-building."

"Shows that the West’s military might and technological solutions cannot impose stability and democracy on the strife-torn country from outside."

"This is a timely book, with analysis solidly rooted in the realites of humanitarian action, almost all authors being practitioners, and should interest all who want to understand the changing politicization of aid."

From the Publisher