The crisis of the civilian option in the Afghan quagmire

The resignation of Kai Eide, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, the vitiation of the presidential election by manifest fraud and rigging, and above all Barack Obama’s decision to send more troops to the country seem to imply only one thing: despite hopes for a change that would combine the presence of Nato forces with a new strategy that took greater account of the population’s needs, the Afghan conflict remains a hostage to the military option and no other. Obama’s decision to send 30,000 marines, followed by Nato’s commitment to find another 10,000 troops in Europe (including 1,000 Italians), has not only not been accompanied by any thought of a greater civilian commitment to reconstruction and the meeting of basic needs, it also seems to imply that the international community is unable to formulate any alternative to military action. Apart, that is, from a generic call for a better quality of government in Kabul. The last few months have been highly significant in this regard and are worth careful analysis. The article concludes with a few suggestions which would, first and foremost, entail a change of strategy on the part of the Italian government.

Keywords: Futuro dell’Afghanistan, cambio di strategie, opzione militare, società civile

Emanuele Giordana, La crisi dell'opzione civile nella palude afgana in "FUTURIBILI" 1-2/2011, pp 187-194, DOI: 10.3280/FU2011-001013