Quote of the day: Rory Stewart about State-Building

We seem to think that State-Building is some kind of engineering problem.
State Building is not, fundamentally, an engineering problem.
There are certain kind of things in development which do resemble that.
Certain kind of things which therefore we are quite good at.
We are quite good, when the security condition allow, at building infrastructure.
We are quite good at relatively simple task issue like sorting out the currency, setting up the central bank, reforming the Minister of Finance.
We are quite good at Rural Development projects.
We can be quite good at this kind of Community Regeneration projects.





















But State-Building is of a different sort. State-Building theorists tries to break it down into a very easy projects management. They says that there are just 10 things required to build the state in Afghanistan.
Those turn out to be:
1) Legitimate monopoly on the use of violence
2) Strong financial administration
3) Good civil service
4) Investment in citizens rights and responsabilities
5) Investment in Human Capital
6) Good Management of State assets
7) Responsible management of government finance
8) A free market
9) International relations
10) Rule of law

These are the ten things!
You just need to get those ten things!!
When you say to them: How do you do this? How do you create rule of law? They say: Well, that's simple, we create Rule of Law by eliminating all corruption in Afghanistan. Then you ask them: How do you eliminate all corruption? They say: through transparent, predictable and accountable financial process. Now, what's interesting is that it sound very plausible but they haven't actually given you a solution, they have redefine the problem. They have simply told you what they do not have, not how they are gonna get there. Because Nation-Building is not a question of technical decisions. It is in fact an issue of Myths, of Legends, of Identity, of Culture, of History of Traditions.

It's about creating the momentum of Founding Fathers.
It's about convincing Afghans why they what to belong to a single country, why they should be working together.
It's a question of Charisma, it's a question of Political Leadership.
These are things which foreigners certainly do not have the knowledge, the power or the legitimacy to attain.

Rory Stewart,
Chairman of Turquoise Mountain Foundation