Democratic Nation Building in the Arc of Crisis: The Case of the Presidential Election in Afghanistan

Abstract

On October 9, 2004, Afghanistan held a prehistorical presidential election. Three and a half months later, on January 30, 2005, the people of Iraq participated in their first open election in 50 years. Both of these elections were of intense interest to the United States and the Bush administration because they represented the initial recognition of a central aspect of the radical post- 9/11 shift in U.S. foreign policy strategy and tactics - the aggressive pursuit of global democracy.