Calibrating Ink Spots: Filling Afghanistan's Ungoverned Spaces
Aug 2006, Vol. 151, No. 4
By Greg Mills
Despite the generally accepted picture of approaching catastrophe in Afghanistan, the reality is, in fact, very different. Significant progress has been made in numerous areas such as education, the police force and democratic election processes.
The overall test facing the Karzai government and his international supporters cannot only be measured against the short-term requirements of stability and capacity roll-out development projects, but against the wider needs of nation-building, national authority and allegiance. This explains why short-term reportage of security incidents remains only pixels in the wider mosaic of national progress. While they might help to inform trends, they also have to be gauged against both the historical inheritance and the social and economic decay of the past two decades.
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By Greg Mills
Despite the generally accepted picture of approaching catastrophe in Afghanistan, the reality is, in fact, very different. Significant progress has been made in numerous areas such as education, the police force and democratic election processes.
The overall test facing the Karzai government and his international supporters cannot only be measured against the short-term requirements of stability and capacity roll-out development projects, but against the wider needs of nation-building, national authority and allegiance. This explains why short-term reportage of security incidents remains only pixels in the wider mosaic of national progress. While they might help to inform trends, they also have to be gauged against both the historical inheritance and the social and economic decay of the past two decades.
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