Intervention In Afghanistan Research Articles

Jus post bellum obligations of intervening states: A legal and ethical analysis of what we owe to the people of Afghanistan

This essay seeks to answer the question of what obligations intervening states have and why the US/NATO intervention in Afghanistan failed. With Afghanistan as a case study, it will attempt to illuminate the responsibilities and objectives of democratic intervening states in general. While it is too late for any near-term realistic hope of a just peace in Afghanistan, future efforts to create a democratic peace between nations should be built not only on humility about the intervenor’s knowledge of foreign peoples and cultures but a deeper understanding of democracy and peace between democracies. Given the ongoing need for asylum and the existence of the Afghani diaspora, it is not too late to learn from the people of Afghanistan as to how to proceed and honor our obligations. The reason why the US government and other NATO intervenors failed to achieve their desired outcome, a just and sustainable peace, is because collectively we not only had an institutionally weak knowledge of Afghanistan and Pakistan, we also had a poor understanding of democracy and peace between democracies. We were not just ignorant; we did not care to learn. This weakness, the misapprehension of democracy as more of a confidently perfected and exportable legal construct and not a humble ethical restriction on laws and knowledge, doomed our path to a just and sustainable peace. This misunderstanding about democracy, a misunderstanding that deepened at the height of American power, is important to correct if we are to achieve solidarity between democracies, and to intervene and choose not to intervene successfully in the future. A humbler approach to democracy-promotion, not an abandonment of it, would have had a higher likelihood of success over the past 20 years, and would still serve us better today in our relations with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other governments and peoples.

Using Mobile Health (mHealth) Applications to Improve Access to Healthcare in Afghanistan

This study investigates the utilization of mobile health (mHealth) applications to improve healthcare access in Afghanistan. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with healthcare providers, patients, technology experts, and health administrators at Sehat Hospital in Kabul. Through thematic analysis of interview data and descriptive and inferential analysis of survey responses, the study explores the current landscape of mHealth applications, including their availability, features, usage patterns, and perceived impact on healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. The findings reveal diverse perceptions among participants regarding the accessibility, relevance, and effectiveness of mHealth interventions in Afghanistan. Challenges related to security, cultural adaptation, and user awareness are identified, alongside opportunities for enhancing the design and implementation of mHealth solutions. The study contributes valuable insights into the potential of mHealth applications to address healthcare disparities and improve patient outcomes in resource-constrained settings like Afghanistan. Recommendations for policymakers, healthcare providers, and technology developers are provided to optimize the use of mHealth technologies and maximize their impact on healthcare delivery. Overall, this research underscores the importance of contextually relevant and user-centered approaches in leveraging technology to advance healthcare access and quality in Afghanistan.

The Discussion of the Tendences and Evolution of the European Security Issues in the British Parliament (1990-2010)

The article is devoted to the discussion of European security issues in the British Parliament in the post-bipolar period. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the British establishment had to revise the foreign policy doctrine of the United Kingdom to adapt it to the demands of the post-bipolar age. During this period, parliamentarians discussed the future role of NATO after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. The political establishment has continued to define NATO as the foundation of the Euroatlantic system of collective security. After the direct military threat from the USSR vanished, the British elites had difficulties formulating the strategic goal of the North Atlantic alliance's existence. Another important topic was the creation of the European Union, its future enlargement in Central-Eastern Europe, and the search for the best approach to British European policy under new circumstances. There was an agreement that the idea of the “Europe of Nations” was best suited to British national interests. The British government also deterred attempts by France and Germany to transform the European Union into a federal superstate. The Balkan crisis also became a central topic that caused heated debates in Parliament in an attempt to find a path to a peaceful settlement. In the case of military interventions in local conflicts, the British establishment tried to evade direct intervention in the Balkan crisis but was forced to reconsider its position under growing pressure from allies, who began to experience economic and reputational damage. The humanitarian intervention in Kosovo created a precedent that was used to justify interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgia were also discussed.

Beyond Borders: Unpacking us Military Involvement in Afghanistan as a Case Study in the Islamic World

Purpose: This study seeks to assess the adherence to international law in the 2001 U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan, prompted by the September 11 attacks. Additionally, it aims to investigate the impact of the Greater Middle East Initiative on U.S. policy towards the Islamic World, specifically Afghanistan, providing insights into legal intricacies and broader consequences. Theoretical Framework: This article engages in discussions among Western scholars on the Afghanistan war and U.S. military involvement but distinguishes itself by incorporating insights from Middle Eastern scholars. It aims to enrich the discourse by integrating perspectives from within the Middle Eastern scholarly community, offering a comprehensive view of these complex subjects. Methodology: Employing historical, descriptive, and in-depth analytical research methods, this study examines events around September 11, 2001, providing essential context for the subsequent U.S. military intervention. Descriptive methods offer a detailed account of the post-9/11 shift in U.S. policy, while in-depth analytical methods scrutinize legal dilemmas arising from the intervention, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of historical context, U.S. policy decisions, and legal complexities. Results: The results and discussion section explores the historical evolution of U.S. military engagement in 21st-century Afghanistan, analyzing its strategic shifts and the Taliban's adaptation to guerrilla warfare. It critically evaluates the international legal aspects of the Afghan War, assessing the legitimacy of the U.S.-led military intervention based on UN conventions, historical precedents, and key principles such as the right to legitimate defense, urgency, and proportionality. Conclusions: The aftermath of September 11, 2001, marked a transformative moment in U.S. policy towards Afghanistan and the broader Middle East, leading to the consequential Afghan War. Despite its geopolitical significance, the absence of explicit UN Security Council authorization prompts a critical examination of the war's legitimacy, revealing lapses in meeting criteria for the right to individual or collective legitimate defense and urging a reevaluation of established narratives in international relations and global politics.

Restaging Afghanistan: Trapped in the Cycle of Conflict Photographies

Western, especially British interventions in Afghanistan, parallel the long history of photography. This article examines the resulting archive and considers its ongoing influence on the traditions of conflict photography through the concept of the ‘Feedback Loop’ coined by photographer Tim Hetherington. Hetherington’s work is used as a departure point for an examination of the archival legacy of the male-gendered western gaze in ongoing western incursions. It focusses on Hetherington and contemporary practitioners to position and understand a repetitive cycle of photographic witnessing informed by the archive. Its perspective is on western traditions in the context of picturing Afghanistan and explores what underpins such traditions and how contemporary practitioners are rethinking, rememorizing and now restaging Afghanistan as a site of post-imperial ‘conflict’. It argues that what Hetherington identified as a ‘feedback loop’ is part of a much older tradition of picturing conflict and the combatants at its heart.

The United States’ Intervention in Afghanistan: the Dysfunction of a Centralized Authority in a Diverse Nation

This article reviews the US-led nation-building strategy effort in Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The history of the nation-building efforts is retraced from the creation of the Republic to its ultimate collapse. The central argument of the paper stresses the dysfunctionality of the centralization approach adopted by several successive administrations in Kabul with the backing of the United States. The inquiry reveals the problems of implementation of this strategy as well as the failure of this idea in general. In terms of implementation, centralization efforts were met with widespread corruption and cronyism. A more important aspect of the problem is that the centralization strategy did not account for the diversity of the Afghan society. Ethnic coalitions struggled for power inside the country, countering the efforts of the central administration headed by the president to extend its influence beyond Kabul. These processes transformed Afghan politics into a zero-sum game rendering the whole nation-building effort ineffective. In the end, the Republic collapsed with withdrawal of the foreign presence essentially confirming the dysfunctionality of centralization approach. Currently, the Taliban relies on essentially the same strategy although being deprived of foreign aid. Whether this effort to re-assert Pashtun dominance in the absence of foreign intervention will succeed remains to be seen.

Increase in institutional delivery and child immunisation coverage through an appreciative inquiry-based community dialogue intervention in Afghanistan

ObjectiveA community dialogue intervention with an appreciative inquiry approach was undertaken to improve institutional delivery and child immunisation coverage in a hard-to-reach province, namely, Kandahar, in Afghanistan. This study aimed to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness in promoting institutional delivery and child immunisation. Study designA pre-post intervention evaluation study. MethodsAn intervention and a non-intervention district were selected in Kandahar. Children aged under 5 years participated in surveys at baseline (October 2018) and follow-up (Post-intervention: November 2019). We analysed age, sex, place of birth, and confirmed immunisation coverage data concerning 1046 and 927 children pre- and post-interventions, respectively. Changes in institutional delivery and confirmed immunisation status were evaluated using net intervention effect and difference-in-difference (DID) analysis. ResultsInstitutional delivery rates increased from 66.3% to 83.6% (p = 0.016) in the intervention district and decreased from 71.3% to 46.7% (p < 0.001) in the non-intervention district, with a net intervention effect of 41.9%. Full immunisation coverage among children aged 12–23 months and 24–35 months significantly increased from 26.4% to 76.9% (p < 0.001) and from 40.0% to 78.6% (p < 0.001), respectively, in the intervention district, whereas coverage significantly decreased in the non-intervention district. The net intervention effects were 59.1% and 44.8% for children aged 12–23 months and 24–35 months, respectively. The DID analysis also revealed significant differences in outcomes after intervention at follow-up. The results concerning antigen-specific immunisation coverage indicated a significant increase in immunisation coverage in the intervention district. ConclusionsThe appreciative inquiry-based community dialogue intervention considerably increased institutional delivery and child immunisation coverage, even in a hard-to-reach province in Afghanistan.

A GIS-based approach to identifying communities underserved by primary health care services-An Afghanistan case study.

Afghanistan has been in an active state of conflict and war for twenty continuous years. Social services like health and education have been badly affected, facing issues such as service disruption, brain drain, and generalized instability. Health indices that provide proxy indicators for general population wellness, such as maternal health, child mortality, and immunization coverage, show that the health services available to the Afghan population are sub-optimal. Investment in social service and interventions has increased. The World Bank and the United Nations through its agencies (The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) are providing social support through targeted and strategic programs. However, the topographic and environmental realities of Afghanistan, with its broad mountain coverage, propensity toward natural disasters, and latent conflict, has made data and information gathering arduous. Since data is essential for measurement and management, the WHO Health Emergencies (WHE) information management unit at WHO Afghanistan has delivered an innovative form of data analysis, specialized and targeted at providing improved information on communities that are not adequately covered by health services. Deploying a geographical information system (GIS) approach, the WHE team has collated primary and secondary data from a combination of datasets to produce a far-reaching piece of analysis. The analysis of underserved communities in hard to reach, remote locations, provides a live, evidence-based information product. This provides a working tool that is essential to primary health programming and intervention in Afghanistan. The estimates show that approximately 9.5 million individuals in 22,181 villages across 34 provinces are underserved by primary health services. This paper is presented to explain the underpinning methodology.

Salafizing Hanafiyya? Madrasa Teachers in Afghanistan, State Actors, and Salafis

This article investigates the Saudi-financed Salafi intervention in Afghanistan, focusing on its impact on the dominant Hanafi legal tradition and the rejection of Salafized madrasa curriculum reforms by Hanafi scholars. It explores the involvement of foreign actors in supporting reform-oriented Salafis to prevent radical elements from gaining political power. The study delves into theological differences between Salafis and Sufis, their interpretation of tawhid, and their incorporation of Western political concepts. Additionally, it highlights the tensions between the Hanafi legal framework and the proposed Salafi curriculum, revealing the intricate dynamics of Islamic normativity.

Chaos and Humanitarian Interventions in Afghanistan

With the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan, a unique situation arises regarding their pursuit of international recognition. On the one hand, their close ties to terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda and their questionable sources of funding raise significant concerns about the consequences of granting them international legitimacy. Conversely, the international community, particularly the United States, appears hesitant to intervene at this juncture, prompting thoughtful reflection. Specifically, post-recognition, there is a looming question about whether the Taliban will persist in endorsing terrorist activities or relying on illicit funding methods. In such a scenario, determining the justification for humanitarian interventions becomes a critical consideration. Moreover, the extent of intervention during the transitional phase from lawlessness to lawfulness in Afghanistan, where extreme crimes are prevalent, demands scrutiny. In this context, it is pertinent to explore Immanuel Kant’s perspectives on humanity and his work Perpetual Peace as they align with the current situation. Therefore, this paper aims to assess both sides of the issue through a Kantian lens to gauge the appropriateness of humanitarian intervention under these unique circumstances. Ultimately, this analysis could shape a new framework for interventions in dire situations involving “crimes against humanity” or threats to human lives stemming from such conditions.

Does the United States owe reparations to Somalia?

For over twenty years the United States government has engaged in what it calls a global ‘war on terror’ (GWOT). This war spans continents and while US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq receive modest attention, the secretive US war in Somalia remains under-discussed. This article offers an empirical and theoretical examination of what the US has done in Somalia since 2001, considering the political, economic and ideological elements of these acts. Data on the US’s war on the Somali people is placed in dialogue with ongoing theorising on the merits of reparations in the world system.

India’s Afghanistan policy: a quest for strategic space post the US withdrawal

This paper attempts to analyse India’s foreign policy towards Afghanistan in the post-9/11 era. While the 9/11 attacks marked the beginning of a new epoch in world politics, the ensuing US-led military intervention in Afghanistan offered India a much needed opportunity to re-establish diplomatic ties with Kabul. Since then, India has remained cautious in its approach toward Afghanistan by relying more on assistance-driven foreign policy measures rather than on engaging militarily in the war-torn country. However, the question remains as to what extent India has been able to create strategic space for itself in Afghanistan, given the fact that India had to shut down its embassy and consulates in Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban regained control of the country? Or, has India’s policy been too reliant on soft power that India failed to capitalise on the opportunity created by the overthrow of the Taliban regime in late 2001?

CHINA GEO-POLITICAL CONTOURS IN AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan as pivotal in this region as it provides a land bridge between Greater Central Asia northern and southern parts and between Middle East and Greater Central Asia as well. The US intervention in Afghanistan has opened a channel for Beijing geo-political objectives in Afghanistan. China’s economic interests are connected with Afghanistan and investing in Afghanistan’s infrastructure development but threats from Islamic extremism has inundated the region which has been infested into Xinjiang province with enhanced drug trade. This research investigates the interests of China through analytical and qualitative approaches. China’s interests in Afghanistan revolve around various geo-political imperatives. China has longer presence and investment plans in Afghanistan because Afghanistan has huge oil and natural gas reserves in northern part. Besides, China wants an access to natural gas supply of Central Asia and Afghanistan. China is interested in stable Afghanistan that has military capability to secure its borders. For regional aspiration China is to counter United States hegemonic designs. Besides, the other significant contour is having foothold in Pakistan especially through strategic designs in Balochistan.

Program targeting with machine learning and mobile phone data: Evidence from an anti-poverty intervention in Afghanistan

Can mobile phone data improve program targeting? By combining rich survey data from a “big push” anti-poverty program in Afghanistan with detailed mobile phone logs from program beneficiaries, we study the extent to which machine learning methods can accurately differentiate ultra-poor households eligible for program benefits from ineligible households. We show that machine learning methods leveraging mobile phone data can identify ultra-poor households nearly as accurately as survey-based measures of consumption and wealth; and that combining survey-based measures with mobile phone data produces classifications more accurate than those based on a single data source.

Soviet Aggression in Afghanistan (1979–1989) and American – Pakistan Relanions

The impact of the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan in 1979–1989 on US–Pakistan relations on the basis of predominantly American-Pakistani documents and memoirs has been examined in the article. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan led to the deterioration of Soviet-American relations, the curtailment of “détente” and the escalation of the Cold War. One manifestation of this was the United States’ full support for the Afghan opposition. The USA needed Pakistan as allies in this policy but it was sandwiched between Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and unfriendly India, so it needed reliable allies. In addition, the Afghan opposition parties’ headquarters, Mujahedeen training camps were located in Pakistan with almost 3 million settled refugees. The USA and Pakistan were mutually interested in close cooperation.&#x0D; The conditionality of changing the format of US-Pakistani relations by the civil war in Afghanistan and the involvement of the USSR on the side of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan have been proved. The relations between the USA and Pakistan in the 1980s developed in two directions: official and covert but under the Afghan crisis influence the United States gave in to its principles. Despite the dictatorial regime, violation of the conditions of nuclear non-proliferation the USA has significantly expanded its military-technical and economic assistance to Pakistan. This significantly strengthened the country's defense capabilities and position of M. Ziyaul-Haq’s regime and Pakistan has become in general one of the main allies of the USA in their support of the Afghan crisis opposition. The secret cooperation between the CIA and the Pakistani Interagency Intelligence in financing and supplying military property to the Afghan Mujahedeen, providing them with intelligence, assisting in the production and dissemination of propaganda materials was important. This had a marked effect on the Afghan war outbreak, greatly strengthened the Mujahedeen’s ability to resist Soviet troops, and significantly increased the disastrous consequences of the Afghan adventure for the USSR. After the Soviet troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan lost strategic importance to the USA, and most programs of US-Pakistani cooperation were curtailed.

Ideological Talk, Strategic Vote: German Parties’ Positions on the Military Intervention in Afghanistan in Parliament

ABSTRACT Existing literature has examined party positions on several military interventions across various countries, mostly using manifestos and expert surveys as sources of data. This article employs a different approach by analysing German parties’ positions on one mission only: the Afghanistan intervention (2001–2021). We extract positions from parliamentary speeches through the automated text scaling method Wordfish and compare them with voting data to check public speech against behaviour. We find that moderate parties were more in favour of the intervention than extreme parties. We also highlight the presence of a strong government/opposition conflict. This dynamic was amplified in the votes as both government and opposition parties have more incentives to act strategically, while surprisingly, we find little evidence of differences in positioning across missions. Other than being the first comprehensive assessment of parties’ positions on the intervention in Afghanistan in any country, this article offers a methodological contribution to the study of the party politics of peace and security operations.

US intervention in Afghanistan and the failure of governance

ABSTRACT Several factors militated against successful counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, but the real failure was a failure of governance. The US and its allies created a central government which proved extremely powerful at resource extraction while dismally weak at service provision, Development aid, the opium economy and the lack of political accountability created new forms of highly pernicious corruption, akin to those in many African states. The result was that legitimacy of the Afghan government was eroded, thereby setting the scene for a Taliban victory. The article concludes with three lessons from Afghanistan for the future.

Determinants Of Pakistan’s Policy towards Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan

Pakistan’s Afghan policy after Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 was not a simple reaction to that event. Soviet action had far reaching repercussions for Pakistan as well as for the region as a whole. Nor Pakistan’s reply to Soviet occupation of Afghanistan neither Soviet decision to send its troops in small neighborly country could be seen while separating it from changing regional as well as international scenario. It also could not be seen without taking into consideration the historical background of the events that had led to the destabilization of Southwest Asia.

Paso a paso se va muy lejos: Traveling the Path with AFS

<i>Paso a paso se va muy lejos</i>: Traveling the Path with AFS

Refugee Law After 9/11: Sanctuary and Security in Canada and the United States by Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Reviewed by: Refugee Law After 9/11: Sanctuary and Security in Canada and the United States by Obiora Chinedu Okafor Dr. James C. Simeon (bio) Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Refugee Law After 9/11: Sanctuary and Security in Canada and the United States (UBC Press, 2020), ISBN 9780774861465, 349 pages. Professor Okafor’s Refugee Law After 9/11 should be essential reading for all those who are working in the field of refugee law in Canada and the United States. It is extremely well conceptualized, researched, legally analyzed, and written. As the title suggests, what this book sets out to do is “to determine more precisely the extent to which the heightened sense of security vulnerability that was produced by the 9/11 attacks did in fact trigger significant alterations in the refugee law regimes of Canada and the United States.”1 Using the marker of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in modern history, the book examines in detail what changed in refugee law after 9/11 in these two closely related—economically, socially, culturally, and, so it appears, legally—countries. Interestingly, Canada was seriously impacted by 9/11, but obviously not to the same degree or in the same ways as the United States. This primary concern for what changed in refugee law in these two countries following 9/11 allows for the examination of two other “conceptual preoccupations:” to what extent has a “security relativism” mentality helped to shape the law’s (mis) treatment of refugees in either Canada or the United States; and what does this tell us of the cogency, coherence, and integrity of the dominant national self-image of the people in these closely related States. These last two concerns are considered to be less crucial than the first. The four substantive chapters in this volume deal, unquestionably, with four of the most salient issues in the field of national and international refugee law: (1) the deportation to torture of refugees and other non-citizens; (2) the detention of refugees; (3) the application of terrorism-related inadmissibility; and (4) the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement. Okafor argues that the pre-9/11 refugee regime looks very much like the post-9/11 refugee regime, “only more so.”2 This is followed by the notable assertion that “the underlying point that the book seeks to make is that in both countries, things were already so bad with refugee law before 9/11 that there was significantly less room than [End Page 445] many have supposed for them to get all that much worse.”3 Further, Okafor notes for the most part, that the refugee law regimes in the two countries “reacted in strikingly similar ways to the heightened security vigil triggered by the 9/11 attacks.”4 This is not to say that Okafor does not acknowledge the significant impact that 9/11 had some two decades ago on the world, such as the security protocols instituted at international airports, increased electronic surveillance of citizens, the US led “War on Terrorism,” and the military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Rather his focus is on refugee law and practice in Canada and the US before and after 9/11. Given the international peremptory norm that no one can be deported to torture, it is surprising to find that in the US the grant rates for relief from deportation to torture is the exception and not the rule.5 Okafor notes that the US Supreme Court judgement of Zadvydas v. Davis, which laid down the principle of the illegality of indefinite detention of deportable non-citizens, and similar case law in Canada, does not present a problem for these states when addressing national security considerations.6 It is argued that it is neither legally nor ethically appropriate to erode the absolute bar in the US against deportation to torture or the less than absolute bar to torture in Canada. Nevertheless, it is argued that this is precisely what has taken place.7 When analyzing detention in the United States, Okafor makes the point that even though more persons were rounded up and new legislation was passed in the aftermath of 9/11 there were no...