Uncomfortable Partnerships - Engagement in ‘Politically Estranged’ Settings Like Afghanistan

A string of coups and regime changes in 2021 and 2022 triggered the question: How should the international community respond to such situations? Do you disengage your support and thereby leave people to their threatening fate, or stay engaged with the risk of legitimizing abusive governments?  

Our guest, Betty Wainaina (NYU-CIC), worked on a report that highlights responsible options for continued engagement, as most experts agree full disengagement is not the solution. With the help of Dr. Idris Nassery (Universität Paderborn) and his knowledge of community work and (religious) law in Afghanistan, we apply Betty’s recommendations to the Afghan context. 

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To get in touch with Betty Wainaina, you can follow her on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow her work at NYU-CIC, you can check out their LinkedIn page or Twitter.

To follow the work of Dr. Idris Nassery, you can follow the ⁠Paderborn Institute for Islamic Theology (PIIT)⁠ or the ⁠Institute for Law and Society in Afghanistan (ILSAF)⁠, a non-profit NGO that actively engages in research, collaboration, and evidence-based projects related to the role of law in Afghan society. Check out ⁠ILSAF's LinkedIn page here⁠.

Supplemental reading:

• ⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠ for the CIC report "Aid strategies in ‘politically estranged’ settings: How donors can stay and deliver in fragile and conflict-affected states"

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