Winning Hearts and Minds in Uruzgan Province
Written by Paul Fishstein, Tufts University
Research in Uruzgan suggests that insecurity is largely the result of the failure of governance, which has exacerbated traditional tribal rivalries. While respondents within the international military did report some short-term beneļ¬ts of aid projects in facilitating interaction with and collecting information from communities, it appears that corruption, tribal politics, and the heavy-handed behavior of international forces neutralized whatever positive effects aid projects might have delivered. As elsewhere, the Taliban have been adept at taking advantage of the openings provided by grievance and resentment. In the context of the Dutch handover and the 2014 Transition, the research also raises the question of whether relying on individuals to deliver security is consistent with the professed objective of strengthening the state.
Read the paper here.
