While people around the world will be awaiting details tonight of President Barack Obama’s deployment and/or withdrawal plans in Afghanistan, the figures released yesterday by the Bertelsmann Stiftung underline the precarious situation of the country’s civil society organizations, and of those in neighboring states as well. According to the foundation’s most recent analysis, the ability of the country’s democratic institutions to function is severely limited by the state’s considerable difficulties in carrying out its governmental duties. The army and police, for example, have not been successful in ensuring adequate governance structures are in place and functioning throughout the country. And despite the massive presence of foreign soldiers participating in the ISAF campaign, the security situation has worsened over the past few years. Even more critically, there have also been setbacks in the areas of political participation and rule of law, as well as in efforts to integrate various segments of the population politically and socially.
“In looking for successful strategies for Afghanistan, we can no longer focus primarily on the military situation,” says Dr. Gunter Thielen, chairman and CEO of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. “We must also consider the situation in the entire region. During the upcoming conference on Afghanistan in London, all facts and figures must be put on the table. Yet the relevant findings from the BTI have been anything but encouraging.”
As the detailed BTI country report for Afghanistan shows, the democratic institutions created after the fall of the Taliban regime have not been able to gain a foothold in recent years. In addition, they have been weakened by the questionable nature of this year’s presidential election. Corruption, poor governance and lack of public security are all leading to increased frustration on the part of the public and diminished trust in the state’s ability to take effective action. What is more, in light of the government’s poor performance, the Taliban is now viewed by parts of the population as a force liberating them from “occupying powers.” This is where the weakness of political parties and civil society organizations becomes particularly clear, visible in the lack of effective communication between the Afghani people and its political leadership.
After decades of conflict, military intervention and civil war, Afghanistan’s economy remains severely underdeveloped. Poverty and despair are part of the everyday lives of most Afghanis. Aside from the enormous foreign aid it receives, the Afghan government still has very few resources at its disposal. In addition, most economic output occurs in the “informal sector,” contributing nothing to the state’s coffers. In contrast, some 90 percent of all heroin produced around the globe originates in Afghanistan. Low wages and low levels of education fuel corruption among politicians and public administrators on all levels, while an anti-corruption task force and laws designed to combat abuses of power and cronyism have proven ineffective.
According to the BTI’s recent findings, the situation is equally grim in neighboring countries, something that makes clear the need for viewing the situation in Afghanistan as a regional phenomenon. The region, already instable to begin with, has dropped even further in the BTI ranking in recent years, something that becomes evident when looking at the nearby Central Asian states. Turkmenistan, for example, ranks 115th, Tadzhikistan 118th and Uzbekistan 120th. Iran, another neighbor, barely made it to 111th, and Pakistan, despite some improvement, was the highest of the group at a mere 106th. The human rights situation has worsened in all of these countries, while opportunities for the public to participate economically and politically have declined. People have grown increasingly dissatisfied as a result of clan-based governance, rampant corruption and growing ethnic divisions -- dissatisfactions that political leaders have been responding to with greater repression. According to the BTI findings, the entire region remains a hotbed of instability, one that extends far beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
About the BTI:
The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) is a global ranking that analyzes and evaluates development, governance and transformation processes in 128 countries in transition. It assesses the progress these countries are making toward democracy based on rule of law and a market economy that is informed by sociopolitical considerations. Detailed country reports serve as the basis for evaluating the current level of development and ongoing challenges, and for assessing the ability of political actors to implement reform in a consistent, targeted manner. The BTI is thus the first comparative international index that measures the quality of governance using proprietary data, while offering comprehensive analysis of the policy outcomes resulting from tranformation processes.
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