Journal of International Studies

Fundamental to the ideal and effective governance of any entity is the system, the administrators of the system and the belief of the governed in the system and its administrators. The three must be in concert for good governance to be a reality. It is a dynamic equilibrium that will cease to exist if one element in this balance is pulling in the opposite direction.  Disastrously for Afghans and Afghanistan, all are incompatible at the moment. The system and the administrators have failed the Afghan nation primarily because both are seen as illegitimate by a majority of its people. There was a window of opportunity in the beginning but thanks to colossal corruption and Machiavellian leaders, the battle to win the hearts and minds of the people was lost.  What Afghans themselves want and expect from their political system and leader is in conflict with the imposed democracy and its leaders of the past 95 years. This has become more evident in the past 35 years...

Afghanistan and U.S. soldiers bombard a Taliban-held village in Kandahar Province. (Bryan Denton/New York Times) The Obama administration is trying to persuade the Afghanistan government under President Hamid Karzai to accept U.S. terms for a status of forces agreement to prolong the U.S. war there, but how Karzai is sticking to his own terms. The  New York Times  comments : The impasse, after a year of talks, has increased the prospect of what the Americans call the zero option — complete withdrawal — when the NATO combat mission concludes at the end of 2014. That is precisely the outcome they hoped to avoid in Afghanistan, after having engaged in a similarly problematic withdrawal from Iraq two years ago. Ah, yes. The comparison to the situation in Iraq is apt, there, too, Obama wanted not to end the war and withdraw U.S. troops, but to extend the war and occupation. We may  recall : While Obama is fond of taking credit for ending the war in Iraq, in fa...