ISAS Working Papers

A decade after the military intervention that dislodged the Taliban - Al Qaeda combine, peace and stability continues to elude Afghanistan. There is still no consensus in Western capitals on what constitutes the ‘end - state’ in Afghanistan. The Western public's frustration with a long - drawn war has coalesced with the global economic slowdown, the Euro c risis and the pressures of electoral campaign politics in the United States – thereby complicating the efforts for the long - term stabilisation of Afghanistan. Premature announcements of exit and dwindling financial assistance have added to the Afghan anxie ties of being ‘abandoned’ once again. This paper brings to light the divergent perceptions among the key stakeholders in Afghanistan and in the international community (IC) on the trajectory of the ‘inteqal’ (transition) process. The paper argues that the war in Afghanistan is essentially a war of perceptions on progress made thus far. This widening gap in perceptions is bound to complicate the transition and long term stabilisation process