Former Afghan Finance Minister and Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani gave the second lecture in this year’s Wooster Forum Series with a speech entitled “Afghanistan: Owning the Present; Building the Future” on Monday.† Ghani, who was named one of the 20 most influential global thinkers of 2009 for his work on fragile states, focused on the war in Afghanistan, U.S.-Afghan relations, and the need for new ways of thinking in order to solve the challenges of these situations.
Ghani began his speech by stressing the ways in which there is connection between Afghanistan and life in the United States. To illustrate, he cited the 80,000 American troops currently in Afghanistan as well as the annual $100 billion cost of the war. He then emphasized that force alone cannot solve the challenges in Afghanistan.† Instead, Ghani believes that we need to discover new manners of thinking in order to find practical ways to achieve the idealistic goals set out for Afghanistan.
Next, Ghani discussed two distinct images of Afghanistan that exist in current culture. The first image depicts Afghanistan as a place full of violence, drugs, corruption, and poverty. However, Ghani also said that others view of Afghanistan as a positive place with a literary tradition, entrepreneurs and a “civil society that is vibrant” and “a media that is boisterous and active.”
Ghani attributes the pervasiveness of the first, negative view of Afghanistan to several factors. First, he said that focus on Iraq led to a neglect of Afghanistan and a continuance of its negative image. Second, because no one was prepared for the 9/11 tragedy Ghani stated that it required a sudden shift in paradigm. He stated that President Bush chose war instead of a policy of containment, leading the U.S. to align itself with the traditional, negative view of Afghanistan. However, Ghani pointed out that, although many think that Afghanistan has been part of the war for a long time, there was only a month of war in 2001, and only a series of anti-terror operations in 2005 and 2006.
While Ghani indicated that the war in Afghanistan originally had some problems, including a lack of preparedness and proper leadership, he said that the current U.S. army has been transformed and has a new doctrine, as well as commanders that live out that doctrine. Yet, he feels that the political goals of this new doctrine still need to be more clearly defined in order to create a better understanding for the public. Ghani also called for coordination between the different forces at work in Afghanistan and for a new regional diplomacy.
In addition to the goals, he sets out for Afghanistan’s international partners, Ghani also says that the Afghans themselves need to care more than their international partners about the future. Speaking as an Afghan, Ghani said, “we must learn that without us taking charge of our destiny we will not be able to ask you to sacrifice,” and called for Afghans to focus on the positive side of their society and reject its negative aspects. For example, he mentioned several very positive aspects of current Afghan society, including the National Solidarity Program, an organization founded by Ghani that helps form local governances and gives communities the opportunity to make decisions about how to use their own resources.
Ghani also emphasized the need for international partnerships and said that globalization should be put to work in Afghanistan. He said that “in order to make a difference in Afghanistan you don’t need to be in Afghanistan.” Resources such as the Internet can be important tools for finding collaborative work spaces in order to discover solutions to problems.
Finally, Ghani concluded his speech by returning to the idea that U.S. citizens and citizens of Afghanistan are connected. Ghani said, “Our vulnerabilities join us but also there is the opportunity to overcome these vulnerabilities,” and, looking at the students in the audience, Ghani stated, “You are part of the solution.”