Dr. Maccoby participates in a Weekly Forum on Washington Post.com called "On Leadership". I am compiling all of his responses to the weekly questions here.
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DATE: December 12, 2009 How to develop Afghan leaders? This week President Obama will announce a renewed commitment to train Afghan troops and strengthen the elected government, among other goals. What's the best way for U.S. forces to nurture leadership among Afghan forces? Is it possible to teach leadership across cultures? Are officials in Hamid Karzai's government too corrupt to exercise real leadership? |
The Right Leaders
Although I am not persuaded by President Obama's strategy of sending more troops to Afghanistan, I respect his carefully considered judgment and, of course, hope that the strategy succeeds in strengthening the anti-Taliban forces. Clearly, the better we are able to develop Afghan leadership that supports our strategy, the more likely we'll be able to exit the country according to Obama's time table.
However, I do not think it is a matter of teaching leadership to Afghanis. We can teach needed management skills, but we need to find leaders with followers. We should avoid putting people in leadership positions who tell us what we want to hear but have no followers. Doing this got us into trouble in Iraq. But Afghani leaders who oppose the Taliban or who are able to neutralize them will likely be tribal leaders who favor followers in their identity groups.
We need to be able to differentiate the honest leaders from the corrupt who use their power to exploit people not part of the tribal group. This will not be easy. It can be accomplished if these leaders recognize they will gain broader support only by using their authority to establish and sustain a just community.
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