Disarmament and Demobilization in Afghanistan

Conflict, Security & Development, Jun 08:

Bureaucratic Façade and Political Realities of Disarmament and Demobilisation in Afghanistan

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....although the international community imposed ownership over the formal DDR-DIAG processes, the wider disarmament and demobilisation effort was largely owned by Afghan players. It is also difficult to believe that the modest impact of the DDR-DIAG processes as it has been outlined in this paper was an accident and the mere result of less than competent management by ANBP. Had that been the case, a more direct intervention by the main international player (the US) would likely have taken place in the early stages of implementation. While there is an emerging consensus on the fact that the DDR process might have been weakened by American ‘disengagement’ or lack of interest, opinions differ with regard to motives. Sometimes this is put down to the desire to avoid dealing with an ‘incompetent’ ANBP, sometimes to political considerations. In the view of this author, the lame DDR process was only in modest part the result of weaknesses on the side of the implementing agencies. Largely, it was the result of a political decision to limit its impact.....

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