AAN’s first e-book: ‘Snapshots of an Intervention’

شریک کړئ

The Unlearned Lessons of Afghanistan’s Decade of Assistance (2001–۱۱)

The idea for this volume was born in the summer of 2010 during a discussion of the cyclical nature of many of Afghanistan’s programmes. Years of following the international efforts had left us with an increasingly strong sense of déjà vu: another conference to demonstrate momentum, another strategy to surpass the ones before, another project that would come and go and be forgotten the moment its progress was no longer being reported on, only to resurface in a new guise a little later.

The edited volume ‘Snapshots of an Intervention’ consists of 25 articles by analysts and practitioners with long histories in the country and who were closely involved in the programmes they describe. The contributions present a rare and detailed insight into the complexity of the intervention in Afghanistan – including the often complicated relations between donors and representatives of the Afghan government (with projects tending to be nominally Afghan-led, but clearly donor-driven), the difficulties in achieving greater coherence and leverage and, in many cases, the widely shared failure to learn the necessary lessons and to adapt to realities as they were encountered.

The release of this book ahead of the Tokyo conference in July 2012 serves as a reminder of the recurring gaps between ambitious plans and conference statements on one hand and the subsequent realities of aid programming and implementation on the other. It is hoped this volume will help fortify the institutional memory of the donor community in Afghanistan, prevent future lapses and help enable a greater capacity to learn world-wide. The lessons that have not been learned have relevance far beyond Afghanistan.

Kabul, 7 July 2012

Download full document (2,08 MB):

Snapshots of an Intervention. The Unlearned Lessons of Afghanistan’s Decade of Assistance (2001–۱۱)

Download individual chapters:

۰٫ Acknowledgements, Foreword, Introduction, Overview – Martine van Bijlert

Part I. Building Political Institutions

۱٫ The Failure of Airborne Democracy: The Bonn Agreement and Afghanistan’s Stagnating Democratisation – Thomas Ruttig

۲٫ The Emergency Loya Jirga: Hopes and Disappointments – Anders Fänge

۳٫ The 2004 Presidential Elections in Afghanistan – Scott Seward Smith

۴٫ External Voting for Afghanistan’s 2004 Presidential Election – Catinca Slavu

۵٫ Toward a More Effective Parliament? The UNDP/SEAL Project – Marvin G Weinbaum

۶٫ A Plan without Action: The Afghan Government’s Action Plan for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation – Sari Kouvo