Chapter 11 The Afghan Ring Road Megaproject: Globalization Meets Conflict

Abstract

This chapter examines the physical embodiment of “conflict globalization” in the Afghan Ring Road megaproject by illustrating the Road's ability to produce close connections between localized and transnational powers while bypassing the Afghan state entirely. A multi-scalar spatial case study of megaproject development is utilized in this chapter. It encompasses a historic and current analysis of the interaction of the Afghan Ring Road's form with local, state, and transnational political economic structures. The chapter argues that the international nation-building strategy in Afghanistan constitutes a “mega-megaproject,” a package of reforms that relies on physical transformation of Afghan infrastructure to win the trust of the population. It uses the Afghan Ring Road to examine the ways in which even preexisting structures have been modified to fit into this megaproject-based system. It also examines the scalar implications of the Afghan Ring Road megaproject using examples of economic benefit to local militias and regional geopolitical energy interests. The chapter provides a starting point for further research on megaprojects’ role in mediating the countervailing forces of “nation-building” strategies and globalization. This chapter examines issues that constitute a critical component of the ongoing, multinational attempts to build a functioning Afghan state through global intervention.

Citation

Miller, A. (2013), "Chapter 11 The Afghan Ring Road Megaproject: Globalization Meets Conflict", del Cerro Santamaría, G. (Ed.) Urban Megaprojects: A Worldwide View (Research in Urban Sociology, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 263-286. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1047-0042(2013)0000013016