Realist, Liberalist & Constructivist stance on Afghanistan Crisis

By Anonymous -

 




KANDAHAR PROVINCE: The value of the country’s currency, the afghani, has steadily deteriorated. In December, it fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar. Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua/Getty Images

 

Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.

-Kofi Annan

 

After the announcement by US President Joe Biden in April 2021 about the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban regime begin its method of capturing places of significance and by mid-August, they had control over Kabul. Afghanistan has been mired in a developing and increasingly deadly humanitarian crisis since the United States withdrew and the Taliban took control in August 2021. Almost every day, Afghan children starve to death. It is estimated that 24.4 million people will need humanitarian assistance due to the collapse of economic order under the Taliban regime. According to the United Nations Development Programme, 97 percent of the country would be driven into extreme poverty by the end of June unless urgent action is taken to increase humanitarian and development assistance

One needs to know what anarchy is and how it functions in this world and plays out its part and regulates the moves of the nations. Many international relations specialists define anarchy as the absence of an overarching authority that serves to control the international system. It refers to a situation in which a group of people interacts without having a shared superior. This superior is the government as an institution. It can refer to the lack of a state (centralized government with a territorial base and population) or the lack of common power (office of rule) or the lack of a common ruler in a narrower sense. Chaos and disorder are also described as anarchy.


KHOST PROVINCE: A remote hospital struggles to provide services in the absence of heat, food, and medicine in December. Sardar Shafaq/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

 

In order to see the theoretical perspective on this ongoing issue of the Afghanistan-Taliban conflict, we’ll use three theories, namely Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism.

"Statesmen conceive and act in terms of interest defined as power," according to realists, and "history supports that notion." They also believe that human nature does not alter throughout time and people are autonomous and act in a selfish way. As stated, a realist would see their power dynamics and in the case of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the human nature tends to look for its own benefit and survival and not for the people who are native to the country as they are losing out on their jobs, income methods and are struggling for bare survival. Another important organizational notion in realism is sovereignty. Sovereignty is a political and, ultimately, legal doctrine that states have the ability to "command absolute authority" within a "discrete area" and that states are treated equally in terms of size, population, and power. In other words, in international law, the state is the supreme authority inside its territory and is not answerable to any higher authority. A realist state's most crucial goal is to preserve its own long-term survival. One can see that none of the nations are willing to intervene in the current situation because they are making decisions that favor their existence and don’t want to get involved and alter their relations. This complements another feature that is self-help and thus worries about own survival.

Liberals, on the other side, would bring in their democratic approach and look at the issues like the one that requires assistance, and the nations of the world should have come together to get Afghanistan out of this misery long back. The values of democracy, fairness, human rights, and peace are all associated with liberalism. Democracy is significant because it allows citizens to engage in the governance process, which has a direct impact on their lives. The democratic process should be transparent and accountable because of the impact that government can have on individuals. This is accomplished by requiring the government to be accountable to the people who elect and form it. Justice and human rights are two intertwined liberal ideas that both seek legitimacy from a higher authority or natural law or rights conceptions. The liberals would expect that the existing institutions like the United Nations Organization (UN) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank would intervene in this conflict and overthrow the democratic government in Afghanistan and bring in Aids for the people that have gone through all the tortures and are deprived of the basic necessities that they should have had. People are denied their human rights and are treated in inhumane ways that are not acceptable at any cost. There might be restrictions on women going for higher studies, holding positions of power is strictly not allowed. The condition has reached such that people are selling their daughters, the organs of their children in order to sustain themselves. Observers are also concerned that Afghanistan can be a breeding place for terrorist as the Taliban regime be supportive of such authoritative actions and militant groups. Liberals also believe in some form of collaboration and interdependence; they expect nations to have a clear stand regarding the conflict, but nations are concerned about their self-interest and thus keep their alliances not so open and clear.

As for Constructivist opinion, they consider the world and all we know about it to be socially constructed. This point of view is about the nature of reality and knowledge. This also implies that reality is always in the process of being built, which allows for the possibility of change. To put it another way, meanings are fluid and change throughout time, based on the actors' ideas and beliefs. In this case, constructivists would believe that this conflict and overthrowing of government is somewhat mutually constituted by both Afghanistan and the Taliban. The ‘binary opposition’ perspective also sets in some way or the other as the Taliban regime is the complete opposite of what western supported Afghanistan government was. One had at least some democratic characteristics in its rule and provided certain basic amenities while the Taliban Government harbors terrorist groups or supports them and is non-democratic.

To conclude, I think every theory has got its own standpoint and how they look at the issues occurring in the contemporary world. Theories play a very significant role in broadening the understanding of issues and looking for solutions in a more optimistic and applicable way.

 

References:

1-    1-  Hopf, Ted. 1998. ‘The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory. International Security 23 (1): 171.

2-      Engel, Susan, and josh Pallas. “File: Engel Pallas International Relations Theories 2015.PDF.” Accessed May 4, 2022.

https://wikieducator.org/images/8/89/Engel_Pallas_International_Relations_Theories_2015.pdf

3-     “World Report 2022: Rights Trends in Afghanistan.” Human Rights Watch, January 13, 2022.

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/afghanistan

 

 


 

 

 

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