‘Civil society with guns is not civil society’: aid, security and civil society In Afghanistan

Afghanistan has become the first theatre in which the USA’s seemingly contradictory goals of the War on Terror and the promotion of liberal democracy and free markets are being played out to their full. This paper examines the intensified convergence of aid, security and foreign policy goals since 9/11 and its effects on civil society in the context of Afghanistan. As a stage for both the pursuance of the War on Terror and processes of reconstruction, development and political stabilisation, the Afghan case is of particular interest. The paper highlights how Afghanistan’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign aid; its government in turn relies crucially on external military and political support for its survival.

The authors detail the emerging civil society during different historical phases up till 2001. They then analyse the changing contours of civil society following the overthrow of the Taliban regime and the subsequent proliferation and dominance of local and international NGOs. The paper examines the short-term impact of security policies and objectives on civil society in Afghanistan, looking in particular at issues of humanitarianism and independence. In the final section we explore the longer-term implications for civil society of state-building strategies in Afghanistan and their positioning of civil society within these. Points raised in the conclusion include:

• although international donors recognise the existence of what they call `traditional institutions’ such as jirgas, mosques and shuras, they are at a loss as to how to incorporate them into the development process or how they fit with the concept of civil society
• the arrival of international development on a large scale in Afghanistan facilitated the encounter of Afghan’s elite with debates around civil society
• there are emerging tensions around the privileging of formal NGOs as bearers of the spirit of civil society
• whilst the Soviets imposed the architecture of a Leninist Party-state, Western donors are introducing a liberal model of a minimal state, where the role of civil society is primarily about service-delivery
• with civil and military lines increasingly blurred NGO workers have become more vulnerable to attack as insurgents view NGOs as part of the government and Western alliance.