In our world, there are such big and powerful countries as the USA, Russia, Germany, the UAE, Pakistan, and dozens of others that have a decentralized or federal structure, and none of these countries has yet collapsed.
Author: Ismail Furughi
James Dobbins, former US Representative for Afghanistan, says: "Federalism is beneficial to Afghanistan and helps the development of this country..." He believes that a republican government with elected governors is useful for the distribution of power in Afghanistan.
Mr. Dobbins expressed these frank words recently in an exclusive interview with TV Afghanistan International.
Discussions about federalism, which have always been taboo in the political and intellectual circles of Afghanistan, this time came not from Afghan thinkers and politicians, but from an American and caused heated debate.
Mr. Dobbins proposes the federalization of Afghanistan at a time when Afghanistan's various ethnic groups are suffering under the brutal and extreme rule of the Taliban and are sometimes forced out of their fatherly homes.
Mr. Dobbins proposes the federalization of Afghanistan in a situation where the resistance and opposition of the Afghan people to Taliban terrorism is gaining strength and scope every day, and public discontent against the mono-ethnic, mono-religious, and monogamous Taliban government is maturing every day in the country as a whole - especially in northern provinces of Afghanistan.
It is not yet clear whether the official policy of the United States of America has turned towards the acceptance of a federal Afghanistan. Does the US State Department believe in distributing power in Afghanistan through a federal system instead of a centralized one? Or is it just the personal opinion of Mr. Dobbins?
While it is still unbelievable that US officials considered a federal system suitable for Afghanistan, however, whatever turns or happens in US policy, the choice of the type of system is up to the Afghan people. Our compatriots are well aware that the Taliban system is the disgusting pinnacle of a centralized system. Our compatriots also know that now is the time to turn to the national discourse to define and choose the type of government without discrimination and violence.
In my opinion, no discourse should be considered taboo or forbidden. The stigma of disbelief should not be immediately and forcibly stigmatized on the foreheads of those who advocate a decentralized system in Afghanistan. It should be known that only in the light of national discourse can the main factors of backwardness and centuries of conflict and the advantages of a decentralized system be identified and understood. Only in the light of nationalist discourse can one understand that a decentralized system has never meant and does not mean the division of the country. And finally, only in the light of national discourse can one easily understand - in our world there are such large and powerful countries as the United States of America, the Federal Republic of Russia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Arab Emirates, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and dozens of other countries that have a decentralized system or a federation, and none of these countries have yet been collapsed.
In short: if we do not have a national discourse and put the stigma of unbelief on each other's foreheads, we will continue our pains and fatal misfortunes and kill ourselves with our own hands.
And finally, if we do not have a national discourse, the Pakistanis will lead Afghanistan to further weakening and even disintegration by the same extremist and centralist Taliban.
