Elections are being held in Afghanistan to choose the next government in that country. The transfer of power is taking place through a democratic process, and one hopes that the new government would be able to ensure “human security” in that country.
The author of the publication tells us that the concept of human security considers its primary goal to be the protection of individuals over the state.
More than mere territorial security, human security includes food security, job security, health security, community security, personal security and environmental security. The two implications of the human security discourse are: humanitarian, which focuses on development, and the other is terrorism and counter-insurgency doctrine.
The author points out that decades of conflict in Afghanistan have led to an environment which is physically, socially, economically, and politically insecure. . Protracted conflict has fractured and strained the social fabric of the country. According to her, insecurity in Afghanistan has been caused by warlordism , the narco-trade, groups that threaten the peace process, regional interference and crime; and the main threats to human security are identified as chronic and pervasive poverty and poor livelihoods, poor health and nutrition, massive population displacements, a degraded environment and distrust in dysfunctional state institutions. Will the elections strengthen the state institutions?
Afghanistan’s human security threat, it has been pointed out, constitutes a larger regional threat like insurgency, terrorism, arms trafficking, drugs trafficking, which have trans- national connotation. It has affected food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, and political security.
All these were affected by the protracted Afghan War: the Soviet intervention in 1979, the U.S. intervention that followed, the internal conflict of the 1990s, the turmoil caused by the Taliban, and the U.S. intervention after the catastrophe of September 11, 2001. The Taliban was driven from power, but many ex- Taliban have dispersed, and are strong enough to resurface anytime. Will the exit of the U.S. and allied forces from Afghanistan help them resurface?
The reconstruction needs of Afghanistan at the present juncture are overwhelming. It needs the building of infrastructure, agriculture, restoration of social services and health care. There is a need to strengthen the role of women in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. There are signs of steady improvement in literacy among the young in the country.
The publication brought out by the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, underlines the fact that strengthening of human security in Afghanistan will help in providing security to the country, which is presently engaged in changing the government through a democratic process.
After decades of instability, Afghanistan faces new challenges, but it has the potential to serve as a “land bridge” between Central Asia, South Asia and the West Asian region. One hopes, as President Karzai stated, “Afghanistan’s political and economic isolation must never be repeated. Instead, enhanced economic cooperation must be pursued for the sake of regional economic and political stability.”
The lesson is that the execution of the strategy of combining the application human security principles to the execution of counter insurgency will result in the most likely satisfaction of the objectives of both.
Book review: Human Security in Afghanistan, by Arpita Basu Roy, Pentagon Press, pp178, price 995/- I. Ramamohan Rao(ANI)