CIAO DATE: 10/04

Afghanistan: Lessons learned from a Post-War Situation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to extract lessons learned from the developments in Afghanistan since the signing of the Bonn Agreement in December 2001. Policy making is always easier in hindsight. It is important to take stock and re-evaluate the decisions made, but such an endeavour only becomes useful if one contextualises the dilemmas which were facing the policymakers at the time. The intention is not to judge individual political, military or economic decisions. The aim is instead to point to the general lessons that can be learned and which could provide an input to the planning of future international assistance in post-war contexts.

The lessons learned analysis will be based on a state-building perspective, which is presented in the first part of the paper. While recognising the complexity of the Afghan post-war situation, the intention is to focus on the key challenges. The remainder of the paper has been divided into three sections focusing on key facets of the state-building process: (i) security; (ii) governance; and (iii) the economic situation. Key lessons learned are highlighted in each section.

References to the UN Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations from August 2000 (often referred to as the 'Brahimi report') will be made throughout the paper.2 This report provides a concise analysis of post-conflict situations and puts forward recommendations on how to improve the efficiency of future peacekeeping operations. Furthermore since the chairman of the panel, Lakhdar Brahimi, was the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) to Afghanistan from October 2001 to January 2004, it is relevant to compare these recommendations with the situation in Afghanistan.

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