The State of War & Peace in Afghanistan

With the current heated debates centered around the Afghan peace process, hurried along by the United States, which sent those involved in the Afghan War into a frenzy of activities and political posturing, it is hard to imagine true peace in Afghanistan after four decades of war. After 17 years of American entanglement in Afghanistan, the current US administration is looking for a more permanent solution to end America’s longest war – but peace at what cost and at whose expense? The late 2018 indications of President Donald Trump regarding his inclination, however passing, to privatize the Afghan War by pulling out the US troops and delegating the tasks of the US armed forces to a private security company or mercenaries, had raised alarm bells across Afghanistan. The triggered debates in Afghanistan mostly took place in the academic circles, where the educated class interpreted politics to those younger or less educated. While the rhetoric usually was a spectrum of informed and uninformed opinions, surprisingly, on this issue, it was more unified. As the fate of President Ashraf Ghani will soon be decided, either through an election or through a government of compromise, Afghanistan reaches a defining crossroads. The 2018 parliamentary elections and the activities and rhetoric surrounding the 2019 presidential elections, presented strong evidence of popular awakening and a gradual power shift inside Afghanistan, with a possible re-evaluation of Afghanistan by its neighbors. All of these indicate that Afghanistan may be at a critical juncture of a socio-political-economic paradigm shift, where power redistribution process has begun and the key is managing this process.