Afghanistan: Devolution and ‘Good’ Corruption

Afghanistan: Devolution and ‘Good’ Corruption

Speaker: Chayes, S. (Carnegie Institute for International Peace [CEIP])

Date: 18 July 2018

Speaker Session Preview

SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Ms. Sarah Chayes (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace [CEIP]) as a part of its SMA CENTCOM (Afghanistan) Speaker Series. During her discussion, Ms. Chayes provided insights on whether there is ‘good’ corruption in Afghanistan and how corruption is understood there, based on her 10 years of experience in Kandahar. She also described how Afghans responded when she asked what corruption meant to them. Moreover, she emphasized that the degree to which ordinary citizens feel like they have input into the decision-making process and real checks on power are critical, as opposed to devolution, which would not solve the corruption problem. Ms. Chayes concluded the session by discussing how decisions are made in Afghanistan, how the Soviet invasion disrupted and altered the its former democratic structure, and how the majority of Afghanistan’s problems resulted from external actors’ involvement as opposed to internal issues.

Speaker Session Audio File

Download Ms. Chayes’ biography