Neglectful Archives: Representations of Afghanistan

The United States, through its military occupation, has been directly involved in Afghanistan for over fourteen years now. Under President George W. Bush, the U.S. intervention was described not only as part of the so-called “War on Terror,” it was also defined essentially as a triumphal “mission civilisatrice” that insisted on “nation-building” and “creating democratic institutions” in the war-ravaged country. President Barack Obama – who had once characterized the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as “a war of necessity” – has withdrawn the bulk of U.S. troops from the country and has been outlining, at least in public, a seemingly different course of action: extricating the U.S. involvement in the Afghan theatre by training and revamping Afghan security forces to stand up against the Taliban insurgency, that is, in essence, “Afghanizing” the Afghan conflict.