Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan Analysis of the Impact of Aid's

69 Pages·2012·0.34 MB·English

Noha Master Thesis

Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan
Analysis of the Impact of Aid’s Politicisation and Militarization on
Humanitarian Space in the Afghan crisis
1979-2001 and 2001-2006, in the context of US-led PRTs

International Master in Humanitarian Action, University of Groningen

Master Thesis
NOHA 2010-2011

Authors:
Maria Alessia Corsini
S-2076039

Supervisor:
Mr. Dr. J. Herman

A paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the NOHA Master in Humanitarian Action
at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

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Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

CONTENTS

Contents .................................................................................................................................................. i

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... p.6

1.1 Rationale .......................................................................................................................... p.8

1.2 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... p.9

1.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................. p.10

1.4 Outline............................................................................................................................. p.11

2. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................... p.12

2.1 Humanitarian Principles .............................................................................................. p.14

2.2 Humanitarian Space ..................................................................................................... p.15

2.3 The state of humanitarian space in October 2001 ...................................................... p.17

2.4 Politicisation and militarization of aid ........................................................................ p.20

2.5 The policy of “coherence” and civil-military interaction .......................................... p.23

2.6 Guidelines on civil-military interaction ....................................................................... p.27

2.7 OEF and US-led PRT’s model and mandate ............................................................... p.29

2.8 Conclusions and Analytical Framework ...................................................................... p.34

3. The context .............................................................................................................................. p.38

4. Politicisation of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan in the period between 1979-2001 ....... p.40

4.1 Key Phases of the Afghan crisis since 1979 ................................................................ p.41

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4.2 Aid in the Cold War years ............................................................................................. p.42

4.3 Aid in the Post Cold War years .................................................................................... p.45

4.4 Aid in the Taliban years till 2001 ................................................................................. p.48

5. Politicisation and militarization of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan:…………...:……….p.52
OEF and US-led PRTs in the period between October 2001-November 2006

5.1 The context/background ................................................................................................ p.52

5.2 Security activities: impact on humanitarian space ..................................................... p.54

5.3 Reconstruction and relief activities: impact on humanitarian space......................... p.56

5.4 Governance support activities: impact on humanitarian space ................................. p.58

6. Discussion ............................................................................................................................... p.62

5.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... p.62

5.2 Implications ................................................................................................................... p.64

5.3 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... p.65

5.4 Recommandations ......................................................................................................... p.68

List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................

References .................................................................................................................................................

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Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

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Politicisation and Militarization of Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan

CHAPTER I
Introduction

1. Introduction
Afghanistan, in the wake of the events of 9/11, embodied many of the challenges and
dilemmas facing the international community in the “new world disorder” (Atmar, Goodhand
1). Since then, policy makers, diplomats and aid workers have struggled to develop
appropriate responses in this context, characterized by state breakdown, competing military
factions, black economy and widespread destruction.
Humanitarian action has a long history in the country and, as it will be demonstrated,
it has been constantly affected and entangled in the political, socio-economic, human rights
and military facets of the crisis. The manner in which the international community has
responded to it has been heavily influenced by political and security agendas, often in
contrast with humanitarian objectives. Similarly to other contexts, the degree to which
humanitarian aid has been principled, politicized or militarised has largely varied, depending
on the prevailing of interests of superpowers, donors and local actors involved. These have
shaped the humanitarian space in Afghanistan and have often had a greater impact on the
relief operations’ effectiveness than the capacity itself of humanitarian agencies to respond in
a coherent and co-ordinated way.
The complexity of the emergency (neither merely an inter-state conflict nor a classic
civil war nor only a natural disaster crisis) and the type of international response (neither
solely humanitarian action nor only development aid) have pushed strategies and actors to
change over the years, as the conflict and environmental situation in the country have
evolved (Atmar, Goodhand 1). Since early years, aid programs have been an important part
of the international response in Afghanistan, but, as aforementioned, they have also been
constantly intertwined with main actors’ political agenda (Duffield 2000). This has been the
case since Cold War and early post Cold War eras which saw the alternation of an
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opportunistic policy of engagement, strategic withdrawal, containment or aggressive single
issue focus (Atmar, Goodhand 2). The same approach continued during the Talibans’ regime
and became even more evident at the peak of their power (between 1996 and 2001).
It is in the aftermath of September 11 events, however, that politicisation and
militarization of humanitarian aid have reached their maximum expression in the country, in
the sense that, in this period and for all the G. W. Bush’s administrations especially, foreign
aid has acquired the role of key instrument in fighting the global war on terrorism (Tarnoff,
Nowels 2, 16).
As it will be demonstrated in the next chapters, since October 2001 and the US-led
invasion to smash Al-Qaeda and the Talibans, militarization of aid has introduced new
challenges to the humanitarian space. This is clearly exemplified by the relief operations
conducted by US forces in the framework of a new concept of civil-military cooperation, the
Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).
US funding for humanitarian assistance in this period considerably increased (Tarnoff,
Nowels 2-18), but its high majority was destined to areas and interventions that were in
support of military strategic objectives (Patrick, Brown, 3-4). Furthermore, there was a
substantial disparity between financial resources allocated to unilateral responses compared
to bilateral or multilateral ones, with a strong preference for the first (Ibid.). Relief and NGOs
have been seen as mere tools in the war ideology, as explicitly stated by Colin Powell, the US
Secretary of State in his statement: "NGOs are a multiplying force of our combat team."
(Powell 2001).
From its outset in Afghanistan, the US-led mission has paid little heed to the laws of
war, be it to the Geneva Conventions or to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). A
complete lack of respect has been shown for existing civil-military cooperation guidelines or
experience from previous UN forcible military interventions and integrated missions. Aid
seems to be conceived as nothing more than a weapon in the global war on terror (GWOT).
The intrusion of explicit political and military reasoning in the humanitarian scene
and its confusion with counter-insurgency warfare, in US-led PRTs and ‘Hearts and Minds’
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campaigns, have had substantial, negative consequences for humanitarian space in
Afghanistan. US-led PRTs have, repeatedly, proved themselves poorly effective in fulfilling
their core mandate in terms of comprehensive security and have, often, been unable to
promote a safe and stable environment to facilitate governance, reconstruction and aid
activities in the country. Furthermore, when directly implementing relief and reconstruction
activities, they have also charged aid with strategic force-protection motives and strong
conditionalities, failing to address the real needs of the local population and blurring the lines
between military and humanitarian.
This has negatively impacted on humanitarian space at various levels, affecting both
its dimensions of principle and practise. Humanitarian principles have been eroded and the
perception of other humanitarian actors, namely INGOS and NGOS, has been deteriorated,
jeopardising their acceptance at the eyes of Afghans. As a result, security threats,
intentionally directed to aid workers, have increased and their operational access has been
progressively reduced, as well as the ability of the international community to properly assess
and respond to beneficiaries’ needs.

1.1. Rationale
This paper explores the consequences of politicisation and militarization of aid in
relation to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. Politicisation of aid, in the country, is not
a new phenomenon. Aid has rarely been delivered purely on the basis of need and particular
political and security objectives have prevailed over the purpose of alleviating human
suffering. Thus, over the years, consequent prioritization bias has led to the concentration of
assistance to specific areas of intervention, geographical localization and conditionalities,
mostly neglecting the plight of the population.
The focus of this study will be to examine how geopolitical considerations and

military objectives have interacted with the dynamics of the Afghan crisis. The period taken
into consideration for this analysis runs from 1979 to November 2006 and will be split in two
phases, prior and after October 2001, respectively.
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Concerning the years between 2001 and 2006, great attention will be given to the
impact of the deployment of United States (US) forces and, specifically, to examine how the
complex mandate and character of OEF and US-led PRTs have influenced the humanitarian
space in the country.
The aim is to highlight the consequences that militarization of aid had for the Afghan
populations and the operating humanitarian actors, in this period. To achieve this goal, the
present paper will offer a critical analysis of the results that the different activities deployed
by OEF and US-led PRTs (security, reconstruction, relief and governance support) had in the
country. The 6th of November 2006, that saw the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld from
Defence Secretary and the passage of the PRTs to the ISAF, marks the ending date for this
study. This date has been chosen as it represents the end of a particular policy line which is
considered the most striking example of blurring the lines between civil and military
operations.

1.2. Research questions
In the following sections, this paper will try to assess how politicisation and
militarization of aid in Afghanistan, has impacted on humanitarian assistance in the country
and how this has influenced its effectiveness and the humanitarian space in general for the
Afghan crisis.
In particular, the next chapters will try to respond to the following research questions:
Main research question:
To what extent did politicisation and militarization of aid impact on humanitarian
space in Afghanistan between 1975 and October 2001 and between October 2001 to
November 2006?
Related research questions:
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To what extent did the security component of the OEF and US-led PRTs’ mandate
impact on humanitarian space in Afghanistan between October 2001 to November 2006?
To what extent did the reconstruction and relief component of the OEF and US-led
PRTs’ mandate impact on humanitarian space in Afghanistan between October 2001 to
November 2006?
To what extent did the governance support component of the OEF and US-led PRTs’
mandate impact on humanitarian space in Afghanistan between October 2001 to November
2006?

1.3. Methodology
A qualitative research approach was used as the main method of this study. The
reason behind this choice is given by the open character of this method that allows to
appropriately targeting the complexity of the humanitarian action and its expression in
policies and daily practice. In particular, a qualitative research consents to study data and
information in their intricate nature and implications, embedding them in their context (Flick
5).
Data collection was mainly conducted through literature review, policy review and
participation to relevant conferences and workshops at Monash University and Oxfam
(Australia). To be able to answer to the quite broad research questions, different types of
sources were examined and academic articles, books and journals were considered, together
as reports from UN agencies and international humanitarian organisations operating in
Afghanistan. Furthermore, official documents from the US and Afghan governments and
institutions were investigated and obtained through the official website of departments, like
the US Department of Defence.
To prevent and reduce bias, effort was made to ensure that data were collected from
different perspectives and political views.

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