ABSTRACT
Afghanistan’s transition process following the overthrow of the Taliban regime in October-November 2001 offers an instructive case study of the difficulties of re-assembling functioning institutions in an environment marked by massive social dislocation and low levels of trust between different actors. It reminds us that transitions often occur in an environment marked by continuing violence rather than a cessation of armed conflict, something which has prompted several experienced scholars to highlight the challenges of ‘conflictual peacebuilding’ (Suhrke and Strand 2005). It also provides a salutary warning that the commitment of international actors to assist such a transition can easily drift as new issues take shape and demand attention. But perhaps most depressingly, it also suggests that after a seismic political shift of the kind that occurred in late 2001, there may only be one opportunity to set things right. There is thus a need for very careful reflection at the beginning of a transition as to how it might proceed (Maley 2002a).
