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Afghanistan: a cultural and political history
(Routledge, 2011-09) Coburn, Noah
A review of the book Afghanistan: a cultural and political history, by Thomas Barfield, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2010, 400 pp, US$29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 9780691145686
Open Access
Afghanistan: The 2014 Vote and the Troubled Future of Elections
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 2015-03) Coburn, Noah
The September 2014 power-sharing agreement between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah only partially resolved the political crisis that followed Afghanistan’s disputed presidential elections. The compromise of Ghani’s inauguration as president and Abdullah’s appointment to the new role of chief executive officer ended a stand-off that had threatened a political collapse, but in-fighting has continued to impede the day-to-day functions of government. The post-election crisis, and the extraconstitutional negotiations it generated, highlighted the weakness of the legal framework, which was unable to provide an effective, transparent transfer of power. A timely assessment of the flawed 2014 transition is needed if stakeholders are to address the concerns arising from it and prevent further damage to democratic institutions. This is of particular relevance for the management of future votes, including upcoming parliamentary elections. The 2014 crisis has created opportunities for reform, in part by disrupting a political system reliant on patronage. Popular dissatisfaction with the status quo could create space for devolution of some powers to local levels. The crisis has also potentially provided the United Nations with a more central role in supporting democratization. Obstacles to reform include the timing of parliamentary polls in 2015 and the weakness of the electoral agencies that oversaw the 2014 transition. A commitment to transparent elections by the Afghan government, the ruling elite and the international community is imperative. Failure to undertake reform will undermine the notion of democratic elections for the Afghan public.
Open Access
Connecting with Kabul: The Importance of the Wolesi Jirga Election and Local Political Networks in Afghanistan
(Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), 2010-05) Coburn, Noah
There is a renewal of interest in the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga, taking place in both Afghan domestic politics and international discussion about governance in Afghanistan. This is particularly in the wake of the house’s rejection of a significant number of ministerial nominees, its opposition to President Hamid Karzai’s recent election decree and its initial refusal to ratify the national budget. With an evolving relationship with the executive branch, and elections currently scheduled for 18 September 2010, there are many questions about the role of the Wolesi Jirga in national and local politics that have not been considered carefully enough. And despite widespread concern about fraud and corruption during the 2009 presidential and provincial council elections, there is little consensus on what lessons were learned from those elections or what parliamentary elections mean for politics in Afghanistan.
Open Access
Electoral Turnout in Afghanistan: An Act of Defiance?
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 2014-04) Larson, Anna; Coburn, Noah
This paper, the second of three on voter perceptions in the Afghan elections, analyses the reactions of a select group of Afghans to the elections in urban areas. It is based upon ongoing research and data collected in the weeks before and during the elections. This has been undertaken by experienced Afghan and international researchers who covered the 2009/10 elections in the same areas of Kabul, allowing for comparative analysis. Respondents included a broad sample of voters, young and old, literate and illiterate, male and female, from a range of occupations, ethnic groups and backgrounds.
Open Access
Hybrid Forms of Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice in Afghanistan: Conceptual Challenges, Opportunities and Concerns
(Hamida Barmaki Organization for the Rule of Law, 2015-03) Coburn, Noah; Röder, Tilmann J.; Zia, Sayed Hameed
While the growing interest in informal justice is an important step in understanding the various forms of access to justice in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the conceptual dichotomy between formal and informal justice misinterprets the actual hybrid nature of accessing justice that most Afghans experience currently. Hybridity in access to justice, as opposed to duality, appears on all levels of the justice system from the Constitution to the resolution of local land disputes. This hybridity helps many gain access to justice since it makes up for an underdeveloped formal system while offering a system that is both faster and more flexible than a purely state system. The flexible nature of the system, however, also raises important concerns about issues such as “forum shopping” – i.e. the phenomenon of parties of a dispute selecting differing conflict resolution mechanism thought most likely to produce a favorable result – and the protection of individual rights. Both academics and policy makers could help improve access to justice across the population by rethinking the frames that they use to think about how disputes are being resolved and justice issues are being addressed.
Open Access
Informal Dispute Resolution in Afghanistan
(United States Institute of Peace, 2010-08) Coburn, Noah; Dempsey, John
This report discusses informal justice in Afghanistan and its relationship to state institutions. It draws on a series of pilot projects sponsored and overseen by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and on work by other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), international donors, and the international military in Afghanistan, as well as on field visits by the authors. Over the past several years, the USIP team that oversaw the projects spoke with hundreds of Afghan government officials, community leaders, citizens, members of the NGO community, international government officials, and military personnel about informal justice issues. The report provides a summary of this research and a series of recommendations for the Afghan government and the international community engaged with rule of law in the country.
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Informal Justices and the International Community in Afghanistan
(United States Institute of Peace, 2013-04) Coburn, Noah
This report analyzes the array of programs that dealt with the so-called informal justice sector in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2011. It focuses on a series of pilot projects sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace that engaged local Afghan organizations at the district and provincial levels to observe and record how informal justice systems resolve (or fail to resolve) people’s disputes, and how informal and formal justice actors relate to each other in practice. It also examines the expanding role of international actors in local dispute resolution and the impact that such interventions have had on local practices and perceptions of justice. The report finds that the informal justice sector provides a pervasive and effective, if sometimes flawed, venue for the majority of the Afghan population to access justice and argues that the international community should commit more fully to supporting local informal justice mechanisms.
Open Access
The International Community and the 'Shura Strategy' in Afghanistan
(International Development Law Organization, 2011) Coburn, Noah
The international community in Afghanistan has increasingly come to realize that the failure of the Afghan state to provide citizens with predictable access to justice has contributed significantly to the insurgency in much of the country. As a result, funders, policy makers and the international military have increasingly looked to alternative approaches to justice that rely on informal, non-state actors. While this acknowledgement of legal pluralism in Afghanistan has been an important step in attempting to understand the local context for both rule of law and governance challenges, whether international programs aimed at engaging the informal justice sector are actually effective remains an open question.
Open Access
Justifying the Means: Afghan Perceptions of Electoral Processes
(United States Institute of Peace, 2013-03) Coburn, Noah; Larson, Anna
This report focuses on local perceptions of the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan. It situates the elections within growing concerns about the political uncertainty of the upcoming transition and explores what Afghans might consider to be a “free and fair” poll in this context. The report details the findings from over fifty interviews conducted with respondents from three different regions of the country, both male and female, and representing all of the major ethnic groups. This research, funded by the United States Institute of Peace, builds, in particular, on earlier in-depth studies of the 2009 and 2010 elections conducted for the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit.
Open Access
Labouring Under Fire: Nepali Security Contractors in Afghanistan
(Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility, (CESLAM) Kathmandu, Nepal., 2016) Coburn, Noah
This paper explores some of the repercussions of Nepalese labour migration in times of conflict, arguing that security contracting shares much with other forms of migratory labour but also that the commodification of violence this process entails raises certain opportunities and risks for the contractor that neither the Nepali government nor the international community (and the US in particular) are addressing properly. The unique nature of neoliberal contracting and subcontracting during war times makes the state less relevant than the company managing the contracting in terms of defining the Nepali experience. At the same time, the lack of a transparent process around contracting jobs and how proper documentation, such as visas, is secured, put workers at a disadvantage and open to exploitation. Yet, it is also clear that some of these risky practices have become an essential aspect of the Nepali economy.
Open Access
Looking Beyond 2014: Elections in Afghanistan’s Evolving Political Context
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2014-02) Coburn, Noah
With the continued drawdown of international troops and a presidential election, 2014 will be a crucial year for Afghanistan. However, as the elections approach, there is a need to make policy and programmatic decisions aimed at the longer-term promotion of democracy and good governance in the country. While selecting a successor to President Hamid Karzai is paramount in the minds of many Afghans and international observers, it is important to maintain focus on other significant issues closely tied to the electoral process. These include the wider historical and regional context of these elections and the overall democratization process; the importance of the simultaneous provincial council elections and potential repercussions on future rounds of voting, particularly in 2015; the impact on younger voters as the country continues to undergo deep demographic shifts; and the potential for both local and national level upheaval as political actors reposition themselves and restructure patronage networks in response to the outcomes of the elections. The potential for the international community to play a continuing role in supporting the promotion of democracy in Afghanistan also remains significant.
Open Access
Losing Legitimacy? Some Afghan Views on the Government, the International Community, and the 2009 Elections
(Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), 2009-11) Coburn, Noah
Table of Contents No Single Opinion; Elections and Legitimacy; Has the Karzai Government been “Delegitimised?”; Have Elections in Afghanistan been “Delegitimised?”; The International Community: The Real Culprits?; Outcome as Opposed to Process; The Road from Here?
Open Access
Many Shuras Do Not a Government Make: International Community Engagement with Local Councils in Afghanistan
(United States Institute of Peace, 2010-09-07) Coburn, Noah; Miakhel, Shahmahmood
The need to engage local Afghan leaders and support community decision making has recently been promoted as a key element of both development and counterinsurgency strategies in Afghanistan. The resulting proliferation of community councils—commonly called shuras or jirgas— sponsored by different actors within the Afghan government and international community has decreased the effectiveness of local governance and rule of law in many places. Traditional Afghan dispute resolution and governance bodies are most effective when they are formed by local residents and genuinely reflect the interests of the community. Their legitimacy decreases if international or government sponsors create shuras or jirgas to promote their own interests. This paradox creates a dilemma for programs designed to foster good governance: how to promote community self-rule that reflects traditional values and mechanisms and that develop locally, while adhering to rigid counterinsurgency and development timelines and strategies. These so-called ‘traditional’ political structures have an important place in local governance in Afghanistan, but the international community should not assume that such bodies fairly represent their respective communities. Rather, sound understanding of local dynamics and in-depth consultation with local government actors and community leaders are necessary to help ensure that such bodies are represented and thus, legitimate within the community. A more coherent, sustainable vision of long-term local governance and coordinated strategies between the Afghan government and international forces is necessary to bring both stability and development to Afghanistan. In particular, this Peace Brief supports the attempts to create a coherent long-term goal of local governance based on legitimate local actors, most likely selected through elections.
Open Access
Myths and Misconceptions in the Afghan Transition
(United States Institute of Peace, 2012-04-09) Coburn, Noah; Miakhel, Shahmahmood
The coming period of transition to Afghan control of national security will require greater cooperation and understanding between all parties. Cooperation between the international community, the Afghan government and local communities is currently being undermined by a series of myths and assumptions which stem from the unstable conditions, a perceived lack of shared interests and a handful of highly publicized incidents. The international community often underestimates local capacity for governance in Afghanistan and ignores the success that Afghanistan did have with self-rule for much of the 20th century. Local Afghan communities are skeptical of the aims of both counterinsurgency and state-building measures, as projects, such as internationally sponsored elections, have failed to yield anticipated results despite the continued presence of international troops. There is an urgent need to rethink some of the assumptions on both sides of the table which threaten to undermine the long-term prospects for peace in Afghanistan.
Open Access
Not ‘Legitimate’ Yet: The Need for Continued Commitment after the Afghan Elections
(The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 2014-05) Larson, Anna; Coburn, Noah
This paper, the last of three in a Chatham House series on voter perceptions in the Afghan elections, is intended to provide insights into how certain groups of Afghans are reacting to the elections in areas of Kabul where participation was generally high. It is based upon research carried out in the weeks leading up to and following the elections by experienced Afghan researchers who covered the 2009/10 elections in the same areas of Kabul, allowing for comparative analysis. Respondents included a broad sample of potential voters, young and old, literate and illiterate, male and female, from a range of occupations, ethnic groups and backgrounds.
Open Access
Parliamentarians and Local Politics in Afghanistan Elections and Instability II
(2010) Coburn, Noah
This paper is primarily an ethnographic description of parliamentary political culture at the local level in three provinces in Afghanistan. It is part of a wider research project on representative governance in Afghanistan that the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has been conducting since 2008.1 The study focuses on the districts of Ahmadaba and Gardez City in Paktia Province; the districts of Kaldar, Dihdadi and Balkh in the province of Balkh; and Qara Bagh in the province of Kabul.
Open Access
Political Economy in the Wolesi Jirga: Sources of Finance and their Impact on Representation in Afghanistan’s Parliament
(Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), 2011-05) Coburn, Noah
Open Access
The Politics of Dispute Resolution and Continued Instability in Afghanistan
(United States Institute of Peace, 2011-08) Coburn, Noah
This report argues that the assumed formal–informal dichotomy between justice systems in Afghanistan misdescribes the way in which most cases in the country are resolved. In fact, analysis in late 2010 of data from ongoing research and pilot projects sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace shows that most disputes have been handled by a combination of the two justice systems, with actors in each assuming different roles depending on the location and context of the dispute as well as on the parties involved, which has serious implications for many of the international programs recently created to engage the informal sector. Furthermore, this report suggests that the greatest barrier to local dispute resolution in Afghanistan is the current lack of security and political stability, which has made it more difficult for those involved in either formal or informal dispute-resolution systems to interact effectively.
Open Access
Promoting Stability and Resolving Provincial Disputes in Afghanistan: USIP’s Dispute Councils Program
(United States Institute of Peace, 2011-06-10) Coburn, Noah; Miakhel, Shahmahmood
Currently numerous disputes at the local level are unresolved in Afghanistan, leading to local instability, a growing distance between the government and people and encouraging communities to turn to the Taliban. In March 2010, USIP began working with local elders, government officials (particularly governors and officials from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs) and religious figures to address a range of disputes in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces in eastern Afghanistan. These networks of elders, working closely with government officials and, in some cases, the international military, have addressed conflicts that include land disputes, criminal cases, and disputes involving the Taliban. Since 2010, USIP’s Dispute Resolution Project has participated in and recorded the resolution of over 120 cases. The project suggests several methods for facilitating dispute resolution that rely on flexible networks of locally legitimate political figures which will strengthen the government, promote rule of law and decrease the appeal of the Taliban.
Open Access
Traditional Dispute Resolution and Stability in Afghanistan
(United States Institute of Peace, 2010-02-16) Coburn, Noah
Stability in Afghanistan will remain elusive unless disputes between individuals and among communities can be resolved through peaceful and equitable means. However, state justice institutions are barely functioning in much of the country and are incapable of meeting many justice and dispute resolution needs of Afghans. Instead, the majority of Afghans turn to traditional justice mechanisms—including tribal councils and village and religious leaders—to address both civil and criminal disputes. In many parts of the country, including areas recently cleared of insurgents, the best way to make signi cant, visible, short-term (12 to 18 months) gains in peacefully resolving disputes is to work with community-based structures. USIP has drawn important lessons from its work with Afghan partners to implement pilot programs exploring links between the state and traditional justice systems in four provinces across the country (in Nangarhar, Khost, Paktia and Herat). Programs designed to create or strengthen existing links between traditional justice bodies and state institutions can build mutual trust and harness the strengths of each. Donor-funded traditional justice programs need to involve the Afghan government while also accounting for the practical needs of communities to settle disputes in line with their own traditions and procedures, as well as Afghanistan’s laws and human rights norms.

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