State Failure and the Securitization of Afghanistan's Foreign Policy (2001-2021)

Introduction: After September 11, 2001 and the establishment of the republican system in Afghanistan, one of the most obvious features of the state’s foreign policy was its security aspect. Therefore, Afghanistan signed long-term strategic cooperation documents with US, India and about twenty western countries. The creation of the Supreme Peace Council, the establishment of the Kabul Process, the agreement with the establishment of the political office of the Taliban in Doha, the release of five thousand Taliban prisoners, the visit of Afghan heads of government to regional powers and their participation in regional organizations to create regional consensus are all signs of securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy. This situation has sometimes led to securitization, sometimes to non-securitization and sometimes cross processes of securitization and de-securitization.
Considering that the securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy has led to significant material and diplomatic benefits to Kabul during the period under review, the factors of this matter deserve more attention. It seems that one of the things that played a role in this field was the failure of the Afghan government during 2001-2021. Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the failure of the Afghan government and the securitization of its foreign policy.
Research question: The main question in this article is what role did the failure of the government in the years 2001 to 2021 play in the securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy? The importance of this issue is because, on the one hand, it helps to understand one of the factors of the collapse of the republican system in Afghanistan and on the other hand, it depicts the prospects of the current conditions of this country. Research hypothesis: The hypothesis of the article is that insecurity, political instability and economic inefficiency have caused securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy during 2001 to 2021. In this way, the Afghan government appeared as a failed state due to its lack of efficiency and legitimacy and this contributed to the securitization of its foreign policy.
Methodology and theoretical framework: In this article, a qualitative method is applied and an attempt is made to discover the causal relationship between independent (state failure) and dependent (foreign policy securitization) variables. Also, to confirm the above hypothesis, Robert Jackson's "quasi-state" concept and the theory of securitization in the Copenhagen School are combined and presented as a theoretical framework. According to Jackson, a quasi-state is a state that is unable to establish security, enforce human rights and create social privileges and economic comfort. Therefore, these states are subject to internal instability and legitimacy crisis. Although quasi-states have the same external rights and responsibilities like other independent states, they are far from a sovereign state due to the lack of institutional features of a state. According to Jackson, quasi-states are a type of minimal agency that cannot provide basic needs such as law, order, security, and welfare, and mainly become a source of wealth and power for a small group of elites. Therefore, indicators such as the lack of control over the territory, the lack of monopoly in the use of legitimate force, the lack of authority to make collective decisions, the inability to provide public services and the inability to fulfill international obligations can be considered for failed states. Since quasi-states lack “empirical sovereignty” and do not have much power to implement their responsibilities, in their framework, the national, international and humanitarian responsibilities of the government are changed or not realized. Therefore, the foreign policy maker in such states is forced to attract international aid to ward off threats and implement international obligations. In other words, the only way to attract international aid is to highlight threats and securitize foreign policy. Securitization is one of the turning points of the Copenhagen School. In the securitization process, the issue is introduced as an existential threat and is pursued beyond official laws. Therefore, any threat that falls within the scope of security issues affects the domestic and foreign policy of a country. In general, the failure of the state, which internally causes the lack of order and rule of law, economic inefficiency and the crisis of political legitimacy weakens the government’s ability to make foreign commitments. In such a situation, where the internal environment is quite favorable for the growth of terrorism and other irresponsible armed groups and interventions by foreign actors and the failed state is unable to deal with it, foreign policy-makers try to adopt strategies such as the securitization of foreign policy to attract international aid, eliminate threats and ensure the survival of the system.
Results and discussion: According to the theoretical model presented above, it is possible to look for the signs of the securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy at three national, regional and international levels and explain how this process is happened. Although at the first glance, it seemed that the chaotic conditions of Afghanistan along with the nature of the international community’s fight against terrorism caused this situation, but by focusing on the foreign policy of Afghanistan in the period under review, it is clear that apart from the reasons mentioned, other factors also played a role in the securitization of this country's foreign policy; the factors that were highlighted by Afghan and foreign factors so that Afghanistan remains at the center of attention of international community and attract the necessary financial and political support. In the meantime, especially the failure of the state in Afghanistan facilitated the process of securitizing of the country’s foreign policy.
Conclution: The final consequence of the securitization of Afghanistan's foreign policy in the period under review was the fall of the government and in fact, the collapse of the republican system on August 15, 2021, A consequence that was raised as the main threat in Afghanistan’s foreign policy and many efforts were made to prevent it, and as a result, a lot of security-military, political and economic support was provided by the international community.