Publications - "To Rebuild Afghanistan, Look Next
Door"
By OLGA M. DAVIDSON and MOHAMMAD J. MAHALLATI
Originally published in The New York Times,
February 28, 2002
One of the best hopes for a prosperous Afghanistan is also the least
appreciated: Iran. Its ties to Afghanistan are deep. As Hamid Karzai,
interim leader of Afghanistan, told Iran's Parliament on Monday, the
two countries have "a common culture and language and these bonds
have made our friendship eternal." The occasion may have led Mr.
Karzai to exaggerate, but not by much.
Iranians, especially the 65 percent of its population that is under
25, can best be described as masses of unemployed skilled labor and
underemployed talent that have not been, and cannot be, absorbed into
the domestic market because of the economic problems facing the government.
This labor force is culturally the closest to Afghanistan's among neighboring
countries. Iranians speak the same language as a large percentage of
the Afghani population and share the same literature. Such ties help
explain why Iran has already committed $500 million over the next five
years to help Afghanistan.
In the warlord years, Iran mainly supported the Hezb-i-Wahdat group,
which represented the interests of Afghan Shiites and particularly the
Hazara ethnic minority. During the period of Taliban power, Iran continued
to aid what there was of the Hezb-i-Wahdat active in the Northern Alliance.
More important, Iran gave shelter to more than 3 million Afghan refugees
- "a big burden on your shoulders," as Mr. Karzai put it Monday,
to the applause of Iran's legislators. It also sheltered Ismail Khan,
who has since returned to his power base in Herat, Afghanistan, and
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister of Afghanistan now sought
by the Kabul government as a "war criminal." Many in Iranian
political circles are seeking Mr. Hekmatyar's expulsion from Iran, an
indication of how close Teheran has become to the new regime in Kabul.
Iran knows the good and the bad of Afghanistan, as Afghans know a great
deal about Iran. They have been through many similar experiences in
the past 25 years, particularly having to do with the overlap of church
and state.
Many Afghan refugees are permanently settled now in Iran. But others
wish to return home. Some already have. Together, these people form
a ready-made network for cooperation between the two countries.
Such cooperation would directly benefit the United States in that it
would help stabilize Afghanistan. There could be additional benefits.
Discussions of Afghanistan have served in the past to give Teheran and
Washington a means for talking to each other; until President Bush's
"axis of evil" speech, they were performing this function
again.
Private American efforts to employ Iranians in Afghanistan would not
necessarily run afoul of American sanctions, which have been in place
since 1979. Perhaps the most promising field is education. Afghanistan
desperately needs to build school systems, and Iranians - in particular
Iranian women, who are highly educated by regional standards - could
help in that task. With access to education, women could become the
next generation of doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and members
of Parliament in Afghanistan, as women are in Iran.
An initiative in medical education is already being discussed by the
University of Virginia and Shiraz University of Iran: to build a medical
school together in Afghanistan. The Iranian reaction has been overwhelmingly
positive.
America needs more than just a military legacy in the Islamic world.
The United States should not end its involvement short of reconstruction;
any partial solution would pose a serious threat to the Karzai government.
If it or its successor falls, even the American military success story
will be in doubt.
The reconstruction of Afghanistan with the help of the United States
is also imperative for the simple reason that the whole Islamic world
is tracking this experiment. America's leadership in economic and humanitarian
development will help reduce terrorism. The Iranian people can be a
positive force in reconstructing Afghanistan.
Olga M. Davidson is a professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies
at Brandeis University. Mohammad J. Mahallati served as Iran's ambassador
to the United Nations and led the negotiations to end the Iran-Iraq
war.
This article is available
in Turkish translation on the web site for Turkey's
Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information.
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