The Archipelago of Fear: Are fortification and foreign aid making Kabul more dangerous?

Here is a long but fantastic article exploring the often complicated relationship between foreign aid and its recipients.

I'm really intrigued by this article's message, but I know that eight pages can uh, be a deterrent to some, so let me super-simplify and condense here: The way that foreign aid is being done in Kabul is basically 1) alienating the people and 2) possibly increasing the security risks for foreigners. The fortification and foreign aid referenced in the title are showing up via luxurious compounds for foreigners and corrupted officials, which stand in stark contrast to the 45% unemployment rate and s#!tholes-without-electricity-or-running-water that the people themselves enjoy. The people are distressed, and bombers go after the hotels, which make for obvious and symbolic targets. In the other hand, maybe if the aid was distributed in a way that seemed more...well, distributed, then the people would feel better off and the desperation that makes Taliban recruitment easier would dissipate.

I'm also really interested in the article's exploration of the relationship between the (very understandable) desire of aid workers and other foreigners to have increasing security measures put into place and the way this might actually court an increasing need for those very measures.

Mentioned in the article was the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which I thought sounded really awesome. Basically they are committed to helping rebuilding in Afghanistan with a focus on reclaiming its history and culture.

Check out this photography exhibition called Return, Afghanistan. (Description: For over a quarter of a century, Afghanistan has been devastated by war, drought and famine. Her people have been displaced, and her culture eviscerated. The world renowned photographer Zalmaï, a former refugee from Afghanistan, now Swiss citizen returns after twenty-three years in exile, to re-discover his homeland at a crucial moment of transition.)

Also UNHCR is running a five-part series this month on "Afghanistan at the crossroads." Here are the first, second, and third reports.