America’s War on “Ungoverned” Space in Afghanistan

The United States’ war in Afghanistan has pursued the same policy goal for the last decade and a half: eliminating a terrorist safe haven and preventing its reemergence. Policymakers have understood terrorist safe havens to be “ungoverned spaces,” a term that carries a strong presumption against non-state sources of governance. Operating within this conceptual framework, two presidential administrations have proved unable to change the realities of governance in Afghanistan decisively in the United States’ favor. Flawed assumptions about “ungoverned” spaces have played an important role in America’s failure to conclude the war successfully.