Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts A Path to Peace in Afghanistan: Revitalizing Linkage in Development, Diplomacy and Security

A Path to Peace in Afghanistan: Revitalizing Linkage in Development, Diplomacy and Security

Two hundred years ago, the British troops which encountered Afghans for the first time were led by the splendidly named Montstuart Elphinstone. The 29-year old Scottish diplomat, fluent in Persian and Hindi, had been dispatched from Delhi with several hundred Indian troops, 600 camels and a handful of white officers to encourage the ‘‘King of Caubul’’ [sic] into an alliance against Napoleon. Impressed with their physical prowess, he noted of the Afghans: ‘‘Their vices are revenge, envy, avarice, rapacity and obstinacy; on the other hand, they are fond of liberty, faithful to their friends, kind to their dependents, hospitable, brave, hardy, frugal, laborious and prudent.’’ He said while they spent much of their time fighting each other, they swiftly combined to repel any outsider and were ever ‘‘ready to defend their rugged country against a tyrant.’’ Their martial disposition has led some to question whether, to invert Clausewitz, politics in Afghanistan is not war by other means.

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