Competing Visions and Divided Outcomes in Afghanistan

Jerry Hyman, President, Hills Program on Governance recently returned from Afghanistan, leading a three-member team that researched the prospects for democratic governance. In this event, they discussed the various visions of the state within the Afghan community and between Afghans and international actors. Those divisions are part of the difficulty in reaching a common set of objectives and strategy. They include differences about centralization and decentralization, formal vs. traditional institutions, the predation and corruption of the state, the oligopolization of the economy, the growing urbanization and youth bulge, and the increased concentration of the US and coalition efforts in the south and east. Jerry Hyman is a consultant to the US Agency for International Development.