Ashley Jackson

Many thanks for those thoughtful remarks @JarrettBlanc! #AFGPanel 17/n

I’d now like to open the Q&A portion of our discussion. We have a lot of great Qs that have come via DM over the past few days! I’ll post the Qs & link to the As in this thread. #AFGPanel 18/n

1st Q is for @Afghan_Policy: What do you see as a workable dispute resolution mechanism for the peace talks? Some have suggested the possibility of a third party mediator. Do you think that would work? Who could effectively play that role? #AFGPanel 19/n

2nd Q is for @a_a_jackson: What role does #Afghanistan's Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) play in terms of either improving or worsening local governance? #AFGPanel 20/n

3rd Q is for @JarrettBlanc: In #Afghanistan there’s a new trend initiated by @FForotan where Afghans speak about their red lines for the return of the #Taliban. What do you think are the USG red lines regarding the TB & a peace settlement? #AFGPanel 21/n

4th Q is for @a_a_jackson: What evidence is there that the intractable problems characterizing the Afghan central govt will not be replicated at the local level? In the absence of a reliable census or economic surveys, how do you effectively decentralize power? #AFGPanel 22/n

1/n "Decentralization" is a minefield in the Afghan context. It conjures fear that you will have fiefdoms, outright civil war, ethnic persecution, vulnerably to Afghanistan's neighbors and so on. PLUS you don't have reliable public census data (altho some privately exists...)

2/n Which leads to a knee jerk reaction from the central govt to keep power a tight grip on everything they can. We see that in the current constitution but it's a historical dynamic. Barfield covers this well. But that doesn't work. Partly b/c Afghanistan is so diverse