Peace and Exclusion

Abstract

What does a “responsible end” to war in Afghanistan mean? As a panacea for international disengagement, the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) was launched in 2010. After the 2001 intervention, the Bonn Agreement laid the foundations for a new Afghan state. Its exclusion of the Taliban signaled continuing conflict. The APRP is ostensibly designed to address this and other exclusions and foster an “inclusive peace.” This article probes the peace process at the macro-, meso-, and micro levels within the context of ongoing war. It examines the abandonment and marginalization experienced by women, segments of the insurgency, civil society and human rights groups as well as fragile communities undergoing reintegration. I argue that these exclusions are facilitated by a coalescence of interests that have reinforced the cycle of war and deepened exclusion. Consequently, the peace process has become incapable of offering real solutions, instead functioning as a pretext for excluding already marginalized groups.