Aid, Mind and Hearts in Afghanistan
Christoph Zürcher (Free University of Berlin, University of Ottawa) and Jan R. Böhnke (University of Trier)
Abstract: We investigate the impact of development aid on peace building in conflict zones. The chances of successful peace building are higher when attitudes towards foreign actors are more positive, the legitimacy of the state higher and when the local population feels less threatened. We empirically investigate the impact of development aid on these three dimensions, using original data from 77 communities in North East Afghanistan. We find a small, positive effect of aid on attitudes and state legitimacy, but not on threat perception. We use objective measurements of aid (the number of projects) and subjective measurements (the perceived usefulness of aid). We find that subjective measurements have a large impact on state legitimacy and on attitudes towards international actors. By contrast, threat perceptions are unaffected by perceived usefulness. Electrification and drinking water projects seem to have a larger impact on respondent's perceptions of usefulness than roads, bridges, and schooling projects. As development and security concerns increasingly converge, there is a need for better impact assessments of development aid on peacebuilding. The logistical challenges in conflict zones have often made conducting evaluations impossible due to budget and time constraints. This paper presents a method which could help overcoming these challenges.