How to win an Afghan Election

Afghanistan is currently in its second round of presidential and provincial council elections since 2001. In these elections most attention by international observers and analysts is being paid to questions of logistics and security; and to speculations over who will win and what the most likely scenarios are in terms of turnout, voting patterns and the potential for violence and social unrest. There has been relatively little analysis of the dynamics surrounding the political contest on the ground and their implications for Afghanistan’s future political process. International actors largely seem to view the elections as another tricky phase in Afghanistan’s journey towards greater stability, which needs to be endured with as little damage as possible.