Ashley J. Tellis
{
"authors": [
"Ashley J. Tellis"
],
"type": "testimony",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "SAP",
"programs": [
"South Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"South Asia",
"Afghanistan"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform",
"Security",
"Military",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}Source: Getty
Afghan Elections: What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here?
In spite of the fact that the disputed October presidential election has significantly undermined the legitimacy of the Afghan government, the United States should firmly recommit itself to the war effort and build its relationship with Karzai.
Source: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

What went wrong with the Afghan election: the election was undoubtedly deeply flawed. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the election was far from an unmitigated disaster.
- However extensive the fraud may have been, very few individuals—in Afghanistan or outside—truly believe that any of President Karzai’s competitors could have legitimately earned more votes than he did to produce a fundamentally different result. His reelection, despite all the shenanigans that took place, therefore broadly reflects Afghan preferences.
- The provincial council elections, which took place at the same time, were successful at the local level in the sense that power was peacefully transferred in a country where such a concept is virtually unheard of, suggesting that democratic ideas are finally starting to take root.
U.S. Policy Recommendations: the United States must firmly recommit itself to the war in Afghanistan.
- Despite the damage his credibility has suffered, the United States has no choice but to accept Karzai as Afghanistan’s principal representative and to work with him for a better second term—because that is fundamentally in American interests.
- President Obama and his administration must commit to staying involved in the country over the long term. Without such a commitment, the insurgents will simply wait out the Coalition. Ordinary Afghans will have little incentive to side with an outside military force that is scheduled to depart shortly.
- The United States must take care to rebuild its relationship with Karzai. Softening the (at times) withering criticism of his regime would go a long way toward rebuilding trust.
- The United States should foster a strong American civil-military partnership in Kabul, ensuring close coordination between uniformed military officers, diplomats, and officials involved in reconstruction and development.
- Afghanistan must continue to receive consistent, government-wide attention from American policymakers.
About the Author
Former Senior Fellow
Ashley J. Tellis was a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
- Multipolar Dreams, Bipolar Realities: India’s Great Power FuturePaper
- India Sees Opportunity in Trump’s Global Turbulence. That Could Backfire.Commentary
Ashley J. Tellis
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Carnegie’s Summer Beach ReadsCommentary
Carnegie experts recommend the books that kept them turning pages—and learning along the way.
- +8
Sophia Besch, Eric Ciaramella, Steve Feldstein, …
- Taking the Pulse: Enough with the Annual NATO Summits, Already?Commentary
Over the past ten years, NATO has held almost as many summits as it did during the entirety of the Cold War. Are they still useful, or is it time to stop holding annual meetings?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
- What’s Driving the Trump Administration’s Push to Dismantle the ICC?Commentary
The move is an escalation of its war on multilateralism.
Stewart Patrick
- Europe from Scratch: Visions for a New European OrderReport
As the EU confronts profound challenges, several leaders have called for fundamental reform to the union’s model—but only modest, superficial changes have resulted. What if Europe really could be reimagined from zero today: What should such a redesigned European order look like?
Richard Youngs, ed.
- What Should We Take From Andrey Melnichenko’s Essay in the Economist?Commentary
Andrey Melnichenko’s essay offers no answer to the fundamental question of how, under any kind of negotiated settlement, Europe can protect itself from the Russian ressentiment that is inevitable in all scenarios except for an outright victory for Putin.
Leonid Bershidsky