State-Building 101: Hard Lessons From Afghanistan

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221088873
• Author: Michael Miklaucic
• Date: 01 October 2023
• Subject Matter: Commentaries

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221088873

Armed Forces & Society

2023, Vol. 49(4) 982 –988

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X221088873

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Commentary

State-Building 101: Hard

Lessons From Afghanistan

Michael Miklaucic1

Abstract

The American war in Afghanistan was originally an act of retaliation and retribution.

Over time it assumed the moral burden of state-building. The state-building effort

however was undermined by inadequate planning, inadequate knowledge, and

inadequate understanding of the complexity and difficulty of the state-building

process. Ultimately, the Afghanistan state-building effort failed. The commentary

assumes the premise that even in an era of great power competition, the West

cannot escape the challenge of state-building as fragile and failing states will continue

to threaten global security. The commentary suggests a set of considerations for

those responsible for the inevitable state-building challenges of the future.

Keywords

Afghanistan, state-building, counterinsurgency, fragile states

The American war in Afghanistan—America’s longest war—is finally over. Nearly

20 years after our retaliatory strike against the Taliban state that harbored al-Qaeda,

American forces departed in August 2021, leaving behind a power vacuum that the

Taliban quickly filled. Sadly, little of the progress that may have been accomplished

in Afghanistan over the past 20 years is likely to survive, leaving the country a dys-

functional, unstable, violent, and poorly governed polity tomorrow as it was in 2001.

Nearly half a century ago the United States left Vietnam ignominiously, pledging

never again to get embroiled in a land war in Asia, and hopefully never again to

1National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Michael Miklaucic, National Defense University, 300 5th Avenue Building 62, Washington, DC 20319,

USA.

Email: miklaucicm@ndu.edu

1088873AFSXXX10.1177/0095327X221088873Armed Forces & Society XX(X)Miklaucic

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