4. Reflections on Afghanistan

The United States and international community went to Afghanistan because after 9/11 they saw Afghanistan and the people it harbored as a security risk. Given that goal, the non-battle side of counterinsurgency should aim not at state building but at stabilization. Aid delivery by outsiders undermines the Afghan government at both the national and local levels. The People’s Development Fund supported people’s confidence in local government by assigning a great deal of authority to fund development projects to local Afghan governments so long as decisions represented the local population and projects met stringent transparency requirements. A pilot program beginning in June 2010 produced successful projects that responded to local judgments about what communities needed.