Institutions are as important as electricity in rebuilding failed states

George Osborne and William Hague have been in Afghanistan this week; it’s important that potential Chancellors as well as Foreign Secretaries and Prime Ministers understand the implications of their actions (particularly relevant in light of the revelations Geoff Hoon is expected to make this week about Gordon Brown’s treatment of the armed forces).

The general approach that the Tories would take to Afghanistan’s reconstruction – exploiting the dual expertise of the Territorial Army’s personnel in particular – seems to me to be a sensible way forward. One thing that does worry me a little though is the last section of this article:

“Senior military officers have been calling for a stabilisation brigade, having grown frustrated by what they see as the failure of aid agencies to rebuild the economy in Afghanistan.

“In private, they complain that development officials spend too much time and money on civil society initiatives, rather than investing in local infrastructure and jobs.”

I do not believe this can be an either or question. Of course infrastructure and jobs are the only sustainable way for a country that has been ravaged by sanctions, war and deprivation for decades to return to anything approaching normality. I think we’ve seen in Iraq what happens when, for example, electricity supply is still demonstrably worse for most people five years after they were assured they were being rescued from a tyrant. Or if you were an Afghan, your only potential source of income was the Taleban offering you money, wouldn’t you be tempted?

But as we’ve seen in Northern Ireland this week, functioning institutions and a healthy civil society are the things that pose the real threat to those who wish to spread terror. So it is absolutely imperative that, at the same time as the basics of electricity, water, banking, business and general infrastructure, we continue to focus on supporting the development of national institutions. They have to develop with the grain of the nation concerned – it would clearly be ridiculous to expect any country with no history of any sort of democratic activities to be able to instantly run a fully clean election, for example. But part of what makes institutions function properly in favour of those they are supposed to serve is the very fact of practicing. So – for example – the more elections that are held, the more people understand how they are supposed to work and how the contract between voters and elected representatives works.

In Britain, we are hugely fortunate that most of us, most of the time, are able to rely on the institutions that bind our communities together – things like the NHS, the BBC, or even (dare I say it…) the Houses of Parliament and the monarchy. But we’ve had hundreds of years of practice, and of evolution. None of it was perfect when they were first established. They are constantly evolving in accordance with current requirements and expectations.

Melanie Reid’s brilliant article about the way that snow is bringing out our inner Tories is instructive here – in many (most?) cases, there’s an attitude of ‘we just have to make this work ourselves – and we’ll help other people along the way’. Which is exactly how civil society gets stronger and stronger.

Unusual snow across all of Afghanistan is, to be fair, unlikely. But giving up on helping the Afghans to build their own institutions means that they will be unable to realise their potential to do it themselves.

Related posts:

1. The United Nations has repeatedly failed to protect human rights
2. This is important for our future
3. Accountability – the most important political trait
4. World Aids Day Is A Very Important Cause. But Where Are The Ribbons?