US-based magazine Foreign Policy included Burgmann alumnus Nishank Motwani's excellent article examining the 2014 Afghan presidential elections in Kabul.
Nishank shared more details about his personal and educational background, his time at Burgmann College, and his personal experience attending the 2014 presidential elections in Kabul.
I was a resident at Burgmann for 4.5 years (July 2009 to December 2013) during which I completed a Masters in Strategic Affairs with a sub-thesis component. My sub-thesis researched Pakistan's quest for strategic depth in Afghanistan and, in particular, teased out the motivations and implications of such a strategy, together with its impact on both Afghanistan and India.
This experience was what sparked my interest in the broader region of Southwest Asia in terms of theories of conflict persistence and termination, nuclear deterrence, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and identity politics. After finishing my master's thesis, I enrolled in the Master of Diplomatic Studies program from January to July 2011.
These highly intensive six months introduced me to new concepts and case studies concerning diplomacy and to the school of mitigator logic. During this period, I worked concurrently as a research officer at the Center of Excellence in Policing and Security (ANU), investigating pathways to radicalisation and violence in Australia. I applied for and started a second research position at the School of Culture, History and Language (ANU), researching the "discourse of security" in the Hindi language in India.
I began my doctoral research in March 2012 at the University of New South Wales (Canberra) at the Australian Defence Force Academy, looking at the regional dynamics of the conflict in Afghanistan. My interest in Afghanistan took me to Kabul in December 2012, primarily to get a "smell and feel" of the place. While there, I conducted interviews with Afghan and foreign diplomats, civil society members, and political officials at the International Security Assistance Force headquarters.
My next visit to Kabul was in June 2014 as an International Observer for the presidential election's run-off vote. As someone studying Afghanistan's history, politics, and the regional dynamics of the ongoing conflict, I wanted to make a contribution to the country. I felt that one possible way of doing this could be through supporting the electoral process on what should be remembered as the first peaceful transition of political power in Afghanistan.
Millions of Afghans came out to vote in both stages of the presidential election in April and June 2014. This was an act of defiance in the face of Taliban threats and violence, and so in a small way, I wanted to do my part by supporting Afghans who have braved over 35 years of conflict. That's why I went to Kabul to observe last month's run-off vote.
Read Nishank Motwani's Foreign Policy magazine article: Was the Afghan Election Stolen?(external link)
