Shall we celebrate or mourn?

Today marks the 14th anniversary of Mujahedin’s taking over power in Afghanistan.

The Afghan people feel ambivalent about whether to celebrate today for the victory of mujahedin over the communist-backed regime one and a half ago, or lament over colossal material and human loss they inflicted afterwards.

Afghan Mujahedin after 15 years of struggle succeeded to end the Soviet-backed regime and enter Kabul in 1992. Subsequent domestic violence and factional fighting, however, marred their triumph.

President Karzai speaking at a ceremonial gathering in Kabul today urged the opposition to lay down arms and join the peace process.

He ascribed the mounting insurgency and violence to backstage conspiracies of “foreign circles” and called on Afghans not to be "deceived by their intrigues". He however did not mention any specific country.

Woman presides over parliament

A woman today presided over the Afghan parliament for the first time in history.

Deputy Parliament Head Fouzia Kofi’s presidency at the ultra-conservative parliament dominated by former mojahedin leaders marks an unprecedented revolution.

Afghan women have suffered unique hardship over the past decades. They have almost always been denied their basic rights. With the exception of the communist-backed regime in 1980s, women have never had presence in socio-political arena.

This move is therefore an encouraging step to promote women’s equal rights and participation in political sphere. It demonstrates a fundamentally positive change in radically religious figures’ attitudes towards women.

Afghanistan's media

Independent media and freedom of expression have rarely been present in Afghanistan. Governments, except during the “Era of Democracy” in 1960s, have always controlled the media and used them as a propaganda tool for their own ends.

Afghanistan’s media could be divided into five different historic eras.

I. Evolution of Journalism (1868):

The first newspaper in Afghanistan, “Shamsulnahar”, was published in 1868 during the reign of Amir Shir Ali Khan. Its successor, Sarajul-Akhbar, was founded by a renowned Afghan poet and literary figure, Mahmud Terzi, in Amir Habibullah’s reign in 1893.

In 1929, radio was established in Afghanistan, which was the first radio station in the region. Afghanistan’s first news corporation, Bakhtar Information Agency (BIA), was established in 1939.

II. Era of Democracy (1960s):

The decade of 1960s is known as the “Golden Era” in Afghanistan’s history. Freedom of the media was for the first time stipulated in the 1964 constitution, and free press flourished throughout the country.

The first English newspaper was published during this period. The golden era, however, was soon terminated by the 1973’s coup and subsequent communist coup in 1978.

III. Soviet Invasion (1978 - 1992):

This period is known as the “Sovietisation” of Afghanistan’s journalism. The media has yet again suffered a strict ban.

However, Ahmad Rashid, a senior member of Far Eastern Economic Review, argues: “… despite certain setbacks, the period was also an important and positive time for the growth of the media in Afghanistan. Most notably, this period saw a large influx of equipment and infrastructure development… The period introduced a new generation of Afghans to careers in journalism through Soviet training programmes.”

IV. Media under the Taleban (1995 – 2001):

The Taleban closed down all independent media. The state’s radio and television broadcast only religious programmes and news about the Taleban’s activities.

Furthermore, media equipment imported during the communist era was destroyed during the factional fighting between mojahedin and subsequently by the Taleban. The Taleban banned photography and music.

The television and radio programmes were not popular with the audience and this has resulted in a tremendous tendency towards foreign media.

V. Post-Taleban media:

The media has flourished in Afghanistan since 2001. Freedom of speech and expression reappeared after years of censorship and a strict ban on free media under the Taliban. The print media has fared better than the broadcast media.

More than 200 publications are currently printed throughout the country. However, the quality of the print media remains very poor because of the lack of government support for the private media and the lack of any other sources of finance, as a paper retailing at 10 cents costs at least 30 or 40 cents to produce.

As a result, most of the current newspapers gradually lose their independence and become affiliated with political parties.

Independent media:

"The state of media in Afghanistan today is not zero, it is minus zero,...Internews has a done a great job in Central Asia, Indonesia and other parts of the world where they have helped create independent media. It is critical that we extend that work to Afghanistan where much of what we think of as 'journalism' has been destroyed.” (Rashid, 2002)

The last four years have been a conducive atmosphere for the private media to prosper in Afghanistan. However, there are almost no financially independent papers; governmental agencies, international organizations, or political parties either sponsor most…" (Newsweek, 2004)

Political Challenges:

Although freedom of speech and freedom of expression are enshrined in the new Afghan constitution, the media still faces political pressure and constraints. The government has immense influence on the private media. According to Reporters Without Borders, the media is “under the government’s thumb”.

Furthermore, Afghanistan is an ultra-conservative Islamic country. Ariana and Tolo, two independent television channels, have several times received threats and warnings by individuals, government authorities, local warlords and even the Afghan Supreme Court.

Economic factors:

Newspapers in Afghanistan have very low circulation. Television, too, is viewed in limited provinces because of lack of electricity. Furthermore, advertisement is not yet a lucrative business for the media industries in Afghanistan.

Almost all newspapers, periodicals, radio and television channels are dependent on foreign donors’ funding. Surveys and studies by the Internews have shown that many media company owners in Afghanistan are not clear about their economic strategy.

Social challenges:

The Afghan audience is largely fragmented. In the capital, people would like to view entertainment programmes, mostly Indian and western films and music. The case is very similar in certain provinces, especially in the north.

In the south and southeast, however, people are extremely conservative and they dislike any programmes counter to their religious and traditional values. This creates a fundamental problem to the all television channels to meet the demands of their audience.

Technological factors:

Compared to the state-run broadcasting studios that still use outdated Russian equipment, private broadcasters are well-equipped with modern technology. However, in order to deliver a better service and communicate with the outside world, they need further advanced equipment.

Conclusion:

Independent media have flourished over the past four years, but they are still struggling for sustainability. No independent newspapers or broadcasters are self-sufficient. They receive funds from government institutions, political parties, or foreign organisations.

This adversely affects the independence of the private media outlets. Advertisement is not yet a highly profitable business for the media organisations in Afghanistan.

However, private media still generate a quarter of their expenditures through advertisement4, while state-run media do not make even one per cent of their expenses through advertisement.

Although private media have recently mushroomed in Afghanistan, their future appears to be pretty volatile, as they solely rely on external funding. Most media company owners are not clear about their economic strategy and lack expertise in broadening their audience and generating income through commercial means.

Despite the fact that the Afghan constitution and media law re-modified early this year endorse freedom of media, journalists continue to suffer pressure from government authorities and religious sects.

Recommendations:

- Workshops on business management of the media should be convened for private media sector personnel.

- Audience research projects should be carried out so that media organisations recognise their audience well.

- Distribution network should be expanded and developed.

- Newspapers should be made available at lower prices at academic places to increase circulation.

- Seminars on use of Hi-tech equipment should be held by foreign donor agencies.

- Newspapers with small circulation that share similar editorial agenda should merge in order to ensure their future existence.

- Because Afghanistan has always had a tradition of state-run media, even professional Afghan journalists are not very familiar with norms and principles of free and independent media. Thus, special workshops on free media should be organised for editors of media organisations.

- Both print and broadcast media should set up websites for their coverage in order to better communicate with the outside world and market their products as well.

Warning: We're facing a peace epidemic

Relax and enjoy the insurgency. You'll be surprised to know that we're living in the most tranquil time in decades.


The recent wave of sectarian violence has brought Iraq to the brink of civil war. In Afghanistan terrorists have stepped up attacks and regained control over many provinces. Tension over Iran’s nuclear ambition signals yet another devastating war.

The Middle East conflict appears to be unending. And grinding poverty, unremitting genocide and several intrastate conflicts continue to threaten civilians in Africa. Few, then, will doubt that the world security is getting worse.

But contrary to what appears to be conventional wisdom, two independent security reports have revealed that the world is more peaceful than at any time since the Second World War.

The reports by the University of British Columbia’s Human Security Centre (HSC) and the University of Maryland’s Peace and Conflict Report 2005 have drawn similar conclusions.

The HSC report indicates that there has been a dramatic and sustained decline in the number of armed conflicts since the end of the Cold War. “Over the past dozen years, the global security climate has changed in dramatic, positive, but largely unheralded ways. Civil wars, genocides and international crises have all declined sharply.”

It continues: “Notwithstanding the horrors of Rwanda, Srebrenica and elsewhere, the number of genocides and politi­cides plummeted by 80% between the 1988 high point and 2001... The number of refugees dropped by some 45% be­tween 1992 and 2003, as more and more wars came to an end.”

The findings of the University of Maryland’s Peace and Conflict Report are quite similar. “The decline in the global magnitude of armed conflict, following a peak in the early 1990s, has persisted… Major societal wars are down from twelve at the end of 2002 to eight in early 2005.”

It is worth noting that UN’s 2005 annual Human Development Report has also concluded that the world security, health and economic conditions have got better.

“ Life expectancy in the developing world has lengthened by two years, child mortality rate has dropped considerably, and most importantly, more than 130 million people have been rescued from extreme poverty.” Despite the rapid spread of AIDS, the report claims, health hazards are on a sharp decline.

Andrew Mack, who directed the HSC report, says that despite prevailing security threats around the world, peace is breaking out all over. “It is not surprising that most people believe global violence is increasing. However, most people, including many leading policymakers and scholars, are wrong,” he says.

Mack, who was UN’s strategic planning chief, blames the media for presenting an incorrect image of global security. He says: “The global media give far more coverage to wars that start than to those that quietly end.” He also criticises international security organisations for “not collecting global or regional data on any form of political violence”.

He argues that over the past 15 years the number of armed conflicts has fallen by 40 per cent, genocides by 80 per cent and people displaced around the world by 45 per cent.

Mack ascribes the sharp decline to the UN’s conflict resolution and peacekeeping efforts in the aftermath of the Cold War. He says that despite the UN failures in Rwanda, Srebrenica and Somalia, the world body has a 40 to 60 per cent success rate in stopping conflicts.

Many security analysts and scholars have backed the HSC report. Austin Bay, a US strategic analyst, says: “The January 2005 Palestinian and Iraqi elections… were not the revolutions of generals with tanks and terrorists with fatwas (Islamic religious decrees), but the slow revolutions of the ballot box… These revolts were the beginning of democratic politics, where ‘jaw jaw’ begins to replace ‘war war’ and ‘terror terror’…”

Both security reports, however, agree that despite a significant decrease in conflicts, international terrorism appears to be getting worse. But the HSC report argues that the death toll resulted from international terrorism is exaggerated.

“Like genocide, terrorism is directed primarily against civil­ians. But although the focus of enormous attention, inter­national terrorism has killed fewer than 1,000 people a year, on average, over the past 30 years.”

Certain international groups and scholars, however, have contested the findings of the report. The International Crisis Group’s 2005 security report has shown that ten conflict situations around the globe had deteriorated, while only five had improved.

Roger, a professor at the University of Bradford’s Peace Studies Department, points out: “The HSC report is sufficiently reliable for us to conclude that there is less conflict than 10 years ago, but the problem is that we may be in a lull in violence made worse by the policies embedded in the war on terror being likely to set up extended conflicts, as we are seeing both in Afghanistan and Iraq and may shortly see in Iran.”

It appears that there is a general consensus that terrorism is the biggest threat to human security today. Although, as the report indicates, the number of conflicts and violence has decreased significantly, people almost everywhere fear threats posed by terrorist networks.

For more information and comments on HSC report, refer to the following link:
http://www.humansecuritycentre.org

Leave your comments about whether you agree with the report.