ABSTRACT Canada's entry into Afghanistan as a NATO ally was widely considered a necessary military venture, but Canadian operations during the reconstruction period that ensued were criticized as having tarnished Canada's reputation on the international stage. Canada's history as a peacekeeping nation and its perceived middle power status did initially allow it to act as a mediator between the Afghan government, local actors, and the international community. However, our research discovered that Canada did not fully understand the dynamics of the established civil society structures in Afghanistan, nor the ways in which they influence local politics. A limited understanding of “civil society” among Canadian officials and disproportionate focus on professionalized NGOs as its most legitimate representative meant that local civil society groups in Afghanistan and the role they could play to establish democratic structures were largely ignored. By complementing knowledge synthesis of existing scholarly and policy literature with interviews with Canadian and Afghan aid workers, this article examines the process of post-conflict rebuilding in Afghanistan, considering how neglecting Afghan civil society has resulted in less durable social structures. We also examine Canada's image as an international mediator, and identify new ways of assisting rebuilding processes to ensure more durable and peaceful outcomes.

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“只是众多捐助者中的一个”：加拿大与阿富汗民间社会的接触

摘要加拿大作为北约盟国进入阿富汗被广泛认为是必要的军事冒险，但加拿大在重建期间的行动被批评为损害了加拿大在国际舞台上的声誉。加拿大作为维和国家的历史及其被认为是中等强国的地位最初确实允许它充当阿富汗政府、当地行为者和国际社会之间的调解人。然而，我们的研究发现，加拿大并不完全了解阿富汗已建立的公民社会结构的动态，也不完全了解它们影响当地政治的方式。加拿大官员对“公民社会”的理解有限，并且不成比例地将专业化的非政府组织视为其最合法的代表，这意味着阿富汗当地的民间社会团体及其在建立民主结构方面可以发挥的作用在很大程度上被忽视了。通过对加拿大和阿富汗援助工作者的采访，补充现有学术和政策文献的知识综合，本文考察了阿富汗冲突后重建的过程，考虑到忽视阿富汗公民社会如何导致社会结构不那么持久。我们还研究了加拿大作为国际调解人的形象，并确定了协助重建进程的新方法，以确保取得更持久、更和平的结果。