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.

"Discusses what Afghanistan and the international community should do to resolve dangerous issues and bolster a still fragile state. Offers a blueprint for moving toward greater democracy and prosperity while arguing that the future success of state building in Afghanistan depends on diversifying the economy and enhancing its economic status"--Provided by publisher.

"On the October 7, 2001 American and British forces began to bomb the Taliban's positions in Afghanistan. On November 14, 2001, the nation's capital Kabul fell and the war appeared to be over. Afghanistan was liberated. Life quickly resumed to the streets and the victorious parties met in Bonn, Germany to to strike a deal for Afghanistan's future and the establishment of a new Afghan state, which governed on the basis of human rights as well as democratic, traditional, and Islamic principles. They promised a state that the people of Afghanistan as well as the international community would see as legitimate. In the winter of 2020, after fifteen years, the United States was negotiating a withdrawal from Afghanistan with the Taliban, which occured in full in September 2021. Why did the Afghan state never gain legitimacy? Will the Taliban, now formally in power, suffer a similar crisis of legitimacy? In Waiting for Dignity, Florian Weigand investigates the composition of legitimacy and aut

"Western-led efforts to establish a post-Taliban order in Afghanistan are in serious jeopardy. Beginning with the dynamics of Western intervention and its parallel peacebuilding mission, Astri Suhrke examines the forces that have shaped this grand international project and the apparent systemic bias toward deeper and broader international involvement ... Her main argument is that the international project to reconstruct Afghanistan contains serious tensions and contradictions that have significantly impeded progress. As a result, deepening Western involvement in the region has been dysfunctional rather than helpful, and massive international support has created an extensively weak, corrupt, and unaccountable state. U.S.-led military operations have only undermined the peacebuilding agenda, and increased international aid and monitoring have only led to Afghan resentment and evasion. Suhrke instead proposes a less intrusive international presence and recommends a longer time-frame for c