Afghanistan's Troubled Transition

Reviews: 

"Not just an authoritative study of what went wrong politically in Afghanistan but also useful in terms of broader issues of foreign involvement in elections and political transitions.”
— Choice

 “This splendid book will be valuable not only to readers interested in Afghanistan, but also to anyone concerned with the role that international electoral assistance under UN auspices has come to play in complex peace operations and political transitions. Smith's conclusions are sobering and controversial, but no one concerned with the future of democratic transitions can afford to ignore them.”
— William Maley, The Australian National University

 “A thorough, compelling, and often gripping account of Afghanistan's 2004 election.”
— Jake Sherman, Center on International Cooperation, New York University

 “Both an important contribution to the literature on the political development of post-2001 Afghanistan and a window into the nuts-and-bolts trials and tribulations of a complex UN peacekeeping operation.”
— Scott Worden, US Institute of Peace

Description: 

Scott Seward Smith focuses on Afghanistan's 2004 presidential election—the first popular election ever held there—as he explores the painstaking attempt by the United Nations to develop democratic institutions in the country.

Smith thoroughly describes the personalities, policies, bureaucracies, and external factors that shaped the faltering transition process from 2001 through 2009. He also points to the missed opportunities that contributed to the flawed elections of 2009. Arguing that the failure to give sufficient weight to the importance of institution building led to the crisis of confidence and the resurgence of warlord politics that we see today, he sheds light not only on what has gone wrong in Afghanistan, but also on the prospects for Afghan democracy.