Many Actors, Many Trials : On the Ground in Afghanistan

There are various critiques of notions of global governance, democracy promotion, and liberal peacebuilding — that they are probably not universally applicable, that the concomitant neoliberalism often associated with them aggravates social and economic tension, that democracy, rather than promoting peace, may actually exacerbate ethnic tensions, and that peacebuilding efforts by outside powers tend to be administered top-down and thus are perceived by affected populations as neo-imperialist. On the other hand, some commentators argue persuasively that peacebuilding missions committed to the principles of global governance have done much more good than harm, and have highlighted real possibilities for positive forward movement. Afghanistan's current condition provides a testing ground for peacebuilding and for internationally-overseen development and governance. This presentation will provide fresh observations of the challenge and promise of purposeful international involvement in providing security, peace, economic health, and eventually democracy to Afghans. These observations are discrete, in that they derive from a particular viewing point: from a US Public Affairs Officer working to establish a media support center in Southern Afghanistan, which is partly responsible to ISAF's media embed program, and which is intended to facilitate coordination between Afghanistan's governance system and international partners that fund and deliver local development programs