The Fatal Conceit of Foreign Intervention: Evidence from the Afghanistan Papers

Lambert Karras J. (), Coyne Christopher J. () and Goodman Nathan P. ()
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Lambert Karras J.: Department of Economics, George Mason University, MSN 3G4, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
Coyne Christopher J.: Department of Economics, George Mason University, MSN 3G4, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
Goodman Nathan P.: Department of Economics, George Mason University, MSN 3G4, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, 2021, vol. 27, issue 3, 285-310

Abstract: The fatal conceit of foreign intervention refers to the limitations faced by governments using discretionary power to address perceived problems in foreign societies. Drawing on evidence from the “Afghanistan Papers”—a collection of internal government documents compiled by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and released in December 2019—we demonstrate how the failure of the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan to meet the stated objectives illustrates the fatal conceit of foreign intervention. We explore the limitations faced by foreign government interveners in three stages, reflecting distinct decision nodes within a means-ends framework in which the policies relating to foreign intervention are formulated and implemented.

Keywords: Afghanistan; Afghanistan Papers; fatal conceit; foreign intervention; nation building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 F50 H56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1515/peps-2021-0001

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