Dr Shanthie Mariet D’Souza is Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), an autonomous research institute at the National University of Singapore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ISAS. The author’s views and findings are based on her extensive interactions, discussions and interviews with serving and former ministers, potential presidential contenders, political leaders, government officials, security personnel, media, academia, members of think tanks, international organisations (IO), non-governmental organisations (NGO), civil society and women’s groups, entrepreneurs and locals during field visits to Afghanistan in May-June 2007, October 2010, March 2011, May-June 2011, October 2011, January-February 2012 and June-July 2012.
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