Less is more: International intervention and the limits of external stabilization
When we discuss problems and policy options in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the way we frame the problem will likely influence resulting policy. In what had been (in-)famously termed “AfPak”, based on regional considerations for policy towards Afghanistan, Afghanistan's failed state dragging down Pakistan has become the writing on the wall. This article claims that putting both countries into a single category runs the risk of neglecting their strikingly different paths of state formation and societal composition. While Pakistan has a post-colonial structure, which bears part of the governance problems in its Western provinces, Afghanistan has never had internal cohesion. It merely stayed in place mimicking statehood. Rather, external meddling coupled with an interest to tap external rents dominated internal politics. While public ideology in Afghanistan remains opposed to the state, in Pakistan the state and its institutions are a source of pride, identity and (critical) involvement. While Pakistan's rivalr...