Tackling Structural Grievances: Towards Peace-Building in Afghanistan

The Afghan state has historically been ethno-centric, promoting ethnic hegemony by suppressing and diminishing the ethnic-linguistic and cultural diversity inherent in the very fabric of Afghan society. This suppression has been a central component of the state-building project for over a century. Attempts have been made to merge and integrate diverse ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and social structures into an overarching Afghan identity largely reflecting the tribal characteristics of the Pashtuns. Such an approach to state-building has generated multidimensional grievances, horizontal inequalities and exclusions over the course of time. These complex historical grievances have underwritten and perpetuated the conflict between a mono-ethnic state and a multi-ethnic society. The current Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program is doomed to fail as it fails to recognise key aspects of what drives the conflict. Firstly, it does not address the historical and structural causes of the conflict. Secondly, it fails to acknowledge the complexity of the current conflict by focusing on one specific actor in the conflict - the Taliban. Finally, it fails to appreciate and reconcile different factional ideologies with conflicting political projects for Afghanistan. Peace between the state and the current insurgency will not herald the end of the conflict in Afghanistan. The resolution of the conflict requires a fundamental revisit of state's structure, institutions and identity. Until such time as the Afghan state fully reflects and represents all of its citizens in all their diversity, conflict will prevail.