The Loya Jirga, Ethnic Rivalries and Future Afghan Stability; Strategic Insights: v.1, issue 6 (August 2002)
Abstract
On June 24 the Afghan transitional government and administration of Hamid Karzai was installed during formal ceremonies in Kabul. Karzai had easily won the June 13 election at a national political assembly, or loya jirga. The loya jirga consisted of 1500 representatives, elected or appointed from 32 provinces, and debated the political future of Afghanistan over a seven-day period. The Karzai government is supposed to rule Afghanistan through 2003. During the ceremony, Karzai and his new cabinet took an oath in both major Afghan languages (Pashtu and Dari), vowing to follow the basic teachings of Islam and the laws of the land, to renounce corruption, and to safeguard the honor and integrity of Afghanistan. How successful they are in achieving these vows will be critical to the near term future of Afghanistan, its reconstruction, and possibly the stability of the entire region of Central Asia. The document concludes that if Afghanistan is not at least moderately reconstructed, the odds of it again becoming a haven for terrorists are greatly magnified. Ultimately, the cost of Afghan reconstruction is a timely and cost effective investment that will pay for itself over the long turn.
Description
This article appeared in Strategic Insights (August 2002), v.1 no.6
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
State capacity and resistance in Afghanistan
Mullins, Christopher R. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2009-03);This thesis seeks to explain why current attempts to expand the reach of the Afghan government in Kabul are met with heavy resistance. It examines the historical dichotomy between state capacity and the prevalence of ... -
The myth of Afghan electoral democracy: the irregularities of the 2014 presidential election
Johnson, Thomas H. (Taylor & Francis Group, 2018);This article systematically assesses the 2014 Afghanistan Presidential Election, the first transfer of power from President Hamid Karzai to an elected successor, using provincial voting data as well as explicit data from ... -
Understanding the historical role of central governance in Afghanistan
Marcelo, Abraham B. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2010-12);Three of the most iconic rulers of Afghanistan are Ahmad Khan Durrani, Abdur Rahman, and Mohammad Zahir Shah. The efforts of Ahmad Khan Durrani and Abdur Rahman were focused on building an Afghan nation and development ...