The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition”
In Afghanistan, the crisis of liberal intervention unfolded in the failure to establish democratic structures as a solution to terrorism and extremism in the aftermath of 9/11. Following the emergency withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, President Ashraf Ghani discre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Politics and Governance |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/7380 |
| _version_ | 1797310861278183424 |
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| author | Aisha Younus |
| author_facet | Aisha Younus |
| author_sort | Aisha Younus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Afghanistan, the crisis of liberal intervention unfolded in the failure to establish democratic structures as a solution to terrorism and extremism in the aftermath of 9/11. Following the emergency withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, President Ashraf Ghani discreetly left Kabul, enabling the Taliban to regain control and form a new government in the country. The recurrent pattern of intervention and the subsequent return of the Taliban highlights a failure of the liberal project, which is a significant concern addressed in this article as the main question: Why has liberal intervention failed in Afghanistan? The answer lies in deconstructing the hegemonic discourse of “modern” Afghan to understand how it was resisted and replaced by the alternative discourse of “tradition,” subsequently, leading to the failure of the liberal project. The “modern” discourse, rooted in the US social context, aimed to civilise the perceived primitive and traditional Afghans. Conversely, the Taliban, drawing upon the Afghan social context, contested the “modern” discourse with an alternative discourse of “tradition” portraying liberals and their supporters as “occupiers” and “oppressors,” thus, justifying their armed resistance (jihad) against occupying forces. Framed within a critical social constructivism, the text, interviews, speeches, and statements of prominent Taliban leaders and the US presidents, apprise how specific identities have been employed to naturalise the “modern” discourse as justification for intervention. Critical discourse analysis explicates how the “tradition” discourse denaturalised the former and, subsequently, facilitated the establishment of the Taliban’s power in Afghanistan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:50:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9adda47f37fe4422af8100f341493c5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:50:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Politics and Governance |
| spelling | doaj.art-9adda47f37fe4422af8100f341493c5e2024-02-14T10:32:02ZengCogitatioPolitics and Governance2183-24632024-02-0112010.17645/pag.73803401The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition”Aisha Younus0School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, PakistanIn Afghanistan, the crisis of liberal intervention unfolded in the failure to establish democratic structures as a solution to terrorism and extremism in the aftermath of 9/11. Following the emergency withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, President Ashraf Ghani discreetly left Kabul, enabling the Taliban to regain control and form a new government in the country. The recurrent pattern of intervention and the subsequent return of the Taliban highlights a failure of the liberal project, which is a significant concern addressed in this article as the main question: Why has liberal intervention failed in Afghanistan? The answer lies in deconstructing the hegemonic discourse of “modern” Afghan to understand how it was resisted and replaced by the alternative discourse of “tradition,” subsequently, leading to the failure of the liberal project. The “modern” discourse, rooted in the US social context, aimed to civilise the perceived primitive and traditional Afghans. Conversely, the Taliban, drawing upon the Afghan social context, contested the “modern” discourse with an alternative discourse of “tradition” portraying liberals and their supporters as “occupiers” and “oppressors,” thus, justifying their armed resistance (jihad) against occupying forces. Framed within a critical social constructivism, the text, interviews, speeches, and statements of prominent Taliban leaders and the US presidents, apprise how specific identities have been employed to naturalise the “modern” discourse as justification for intervention. Critical discourse analysis explicates how the “tradition” discourse denaturalised the former and, subsequently, facilitated the establishment of the Taliban’s power in Afghanistan.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/7380afghan identitycritical discourse analysiscritical social constructivismfailure of liberal interventiontalibanus policy failurewar on terrorism |
| spellingShingle | Aisha Younus The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” Politics and Governance afghan identity critical discourse analysis critical social constructivism failure of liberal intervention taliban us policy failure war on terrorism |
| title | The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” |
| title_full | The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” |
| title_fullStr | The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” |
| title_short | The Failure of Liberal Interventionism: Deconstructing Afghan Identity Discourses of “Modern” and “Tradition” |
| title_sort | failure of liberal interventionism deconstructing afghan identity discourses of modern and tradition |
| topic | afghan identity critical discourse analysis critical social constructivism failure of liberal intervention taliban us policy failure war on terrorism |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/7380 |
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