Review of Domestic and Foreign Policies in presidential terms of

Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani

Abstract:
Policy is a law, guideline, principle, or strategy used to a solve a problem. When policies are
implemented and enforced they help to address issues that are important to the general public.
Policy has two expand categories that are Domestic and Foreign policies.
Domestic policy is peaceful or non-peaceful leadership and relations inside the country and it is
usually including the rules, principles and frameworks in internal system.
Foreign policy which is followed by domestic policy includes the relations, rules and principles
outside of the country usually with other countries.
When Karzai was elected as a president in Afghanistan, he selected normal and soft policy with
parties, Mujahideen and other crowds who somehow had relations with government inside the
country. But in foreign country, in early he had friendly and soft relations with neighboring
countries and the countries which cooperated Afghan people and government, but in final
months of his presidency he changed his policy against some neighboring countries and USA.
When Mohammad Ashraf Ghani selected as the president of Afghanistan he started a serious
policy inside the country, he ousted some people who named leaders of Mujahideen from body
of government and then he brightened his foreign policy which he strongly tied his relations with
India, USA and China and normal ties with Russia and European countries and weak with Iran
and Pakistan.
Introduction:
As it is clear, today every country and every organization has their own policies inside the
country or organization and in foreign and they make ties according to these two policies. In
accordance to domestic policy a country carries out the affaires and accordance to foreign a
country make and keep ties with other countries.
In this article I have discussed about Domestic and Foreign policies in the terms of Karzai and
Ghani that at first I have discussed about policy and domestic and foreign policy, then I have
discussed about policies of the two presidents in Afghanistan.
Table of Contents:
What is policy
Categories of Policy
Domestic policy
Foreign Policy
What is Policy?
Concept and definitions:
The word "policy" is not a tightly defined concept but a highly flexible one, used in different
ways on different occasions. Webster's dictionary has a number of closely related definitions.
They are:
· A definite course or method of action selected (by government, institution, group or individual)
from among alternatives and in the light of given conditions to guide and, usually, to determine
present and future decisions.
· A specific decision or set of decisions designed to carry out such a course of action.
· Such a specific decision or set of decisions together with the related actions designed to
implement them. (Webster’s dictionary)1
· A projected program consisting of desired objectives and the means to achieve them.
A policy is a set of ideas or plans that is used as a basis for making decisions, especially in
politics, economics, or business. (Collin’s English dictionary)2
A policy is a law, guideline, principle or strategy used to a solve a problem. When policies are
implemented and enforced they help to address issues that are important to the general public.
(Oxford dictionary)3
Diplomacy broadly speaking, diplomacy is the employment of tact in dealing with people in such
a way that their minds, if not won, are carried along. Originally, diplomacy is derived from
Latin and Greek word, diploma, which means a folded official document. In our context
however, diplomacy is simply the conduct of international relations. Kissinger (1999) and some
other scholars and practitioners have described diplomacy as the art of conducting relations
(treaties, external trade, peacemaking, war, issues of environment, culture and external
representation) through polite, non-hurtful manner on behalf of a state through the engagement
of professionals. This perspective attempts to conceptualize diplomacy as an official act or
formal practice of the state to gain strategic advantage or finding mutually acceptable solutions
to shared challenges. Diplomacy is thus both a theory and a practice. It also could be informal.
Informal diplomacy involves the use of non-practitioners by a state to deal with international
issues. Such persons are usually very influential individuals with international popularity,
particularly in the country they are being sent, could be drawn from the academia, think-tanks,
clergy or entertainment industry. In Western countries, this is a component of what is referred to
as citizen diplomacy; t is also called Track 11 diplomacy. Modern diplomacy is traceable to
Renaissance Italy in the 13th century, when Milan began the idea of establishing formal
1
Webster’s dictionary
2
Collin’s English dictionary
3
Oxford dictionary
embassies in other countries. This initiative soon spread to other parts of Europe and then down
through the 17th century with the Peace of Westphalia to the 19th and 20th century with the
emergence of more states and expansion of the basis for international relations. International
diplomacy generally involves the resolution of international problems. It takes the forms of
arbitration, mediation, conferences, and negotiations. (Folarin, Sheriff 2014: 7-8)4
So, in a general definition from my view, policy is the collection of activities, polities, treatments
and well-governing in an organization or a country.

Categories of policy:
There are two categories in policy that are as follow:
1- Domestic policy
2- Foreign policy

Domestic Policy
Concept and definition:
Domestic policy means policy, peaceful or non-peaceful leadership and relations among the
people, crowds and parties inside a country. (Alem, Abdul Rahman 1375 H: 30)5
Domestic policy is the set of decisions that a government makes relating to things that directly
affect the people in its own country. (Cambridge dictionary)6
The term domestic policy refers to the decisions made by a government regarding issues and
activities that occur within the country. This term encompasses all of the laws, planning, and
actions of the government which concern internal issues that affect the entire country. Many
domestic policies are devised by the federal government, though many are developed through the
combined efforts of federal, state, and local governments. To explore this concept, consider the
following domestic policy definition.
“Public plans and courses of action that encompass internal issues of national importance”.
The term domestic policy is broadly used to describe a range of issues, including personal rights
and freedoms, social welfare, healthcare, education, legislation, law enforcement, natural
resources, and energy generation and use. Domestic policy affects how every person in the
country lives every day, as it shapes such issues as environmental protection, laws, education,
welfare programs, and law enforcement. This is in contrast to foreign policy, which deals with

4
Folarin, Sheriff (2014), “Introduction to International Relations”, Department of Political Science and International
Relations Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.
5
Alem, Abdul Rahman (1375), “Fundamentals of Politics”, Tehran: Nai Publisher.
6
Cambridge dictionary
the nation’s relationships with other countries, including international trade, and peacekeeping.
The two types of policy can be referred to together as public policy. (Legal dictionary)7

Types of Domestic Policy

Domestic policies are created in the effort to minimize chaos in the country. This is done on a
number of fronts, where there are policies that govern the government, policies that keep law
enforcement on the right track, and policies that guide and care for the people. Domestic policy
in the United States can be divided into several types, each of which focuses on a different aspect
of life in the U.S.
Regulatory Policy – Regulatory Policy seeks to maintain order, outlawing behaviors that pose a
danger to society. This is accomplished through policies and laws that restrict people, groups,
and companies from doing things that have a detrimental effect on social and political order.
Regulatory policy includes such issues as administering voting procedures, enacting traffic
ordinances, and creating policies to prevent people from using dangerous drugs. Regulatory
policy also controls business markets and regulates industry, protects the environment, and sets
policy for the workplace.
Distributive Policy – Distributive policy is concerned with providing goods and services,
administered through public agencies, to various organizations. These goods and services are
paid for by the citizens’ taxes, and include such items as public education, public roadways,
public safety, and welfare.
Redistributive Policy – Redistributive policy is a tricky issue, as it involves moving tax dollars
from one organization, which received the money through distributive policy, to other
organizations. On the face, such redistribution is supposed to be done in an attempt to eliminate
adverse social issues, such as poverty. In practice, this is rarely so cut-and-dry. Because the
nation’s leaders are able to use redistribution to gain advantages in other budget issues, or even
to enhance one group’s power over another.
Constituent Policy – Constituent policies create agencies with executive power to work as an
agent of the government. For instance, at some point, new departments or agencies were created
to deal with taxes, and to administer the Social Security plan. Constituent policy is also
concerned with laws, and with fiscal policy, and is responsible for development of new
departments, distribution of funds internally, and creating rules for public servants. (Legal
dictionary)8
The domestic policy is the principles and rules governing the political relations between social
forces within a country. (Alem, Abdul Rahman 1375: 31)9

7
Legal dictionary
8
Legal dictionary
9
Alemi, Abdul Rahman (1375), “Fundamentals of Politics”. Tehran: Nai Publisher
Foreign Policy
Concept and definitions:
Foreign policy means relations among the countries in global field. (Alem, Abdul Rahman
1375:30)10
In a definition, foreign policy is a defined action strategy or discipline applied by decision-
makers of a government against other governments and international units for specific purposes.
(Haqiqat, sayed Sadiq 1385:20)11
Foreign policy itself is deceptively difficult to define. As with most concepts in political science
and IR that attempt to understand key aspects of a very complicated reality, there is considerable
debate about how we should define ‘foreign policy’. All of our decisions about how we should
define the term have benefits and tradeoffs that it is important to be aware of, as they restrict or
expand the focus of our inquiry.
What becomes clear when one reviews the literature is that scholars are often speaking about
different phenomena when they define ‘foreign policy’. Christopher Hill has defined it as ‘the
sum of external relations conducted by an independent actor (usually but not exclusively a state)
in international relations’ (Hill 2016: 4, italics inserted). However, defining policy as the sum of
external actions results in analysis that only explains broad trends in foreign policies and not
individual actions and decisions. Foreign policy according to White is ‘government activity con-
ducted with relationships between state and other actors, particularly other states, in the
international system’ (White 1989: 1, my italics). Yet, as White admits, this definition does not
include other forms of collective actors like the EU that also conduct foreign policy activities.
Rosenau offers an even simpler definition of it as the external behavior of states (Rosenau 1971:
95)12. Brecher contends that what we should study are foreign policy decisions and not just
measurable behavior (Brecher 1972: 15)13.

Relations between Domestic policy and foreign policy

Infact foreign policy is followed by domestic policy and it is provided focused on domestic
policy. (Alemi, Abdul Rahman 1375: 34)14
10
Alemi, Abdul Rahman (1375), “Fundamentals of Politics”. Tehran: Nai Publisher
11
Haqiqat, Sayed Sadiq (1385), “Fundamentals, principles and purposes of Islamic state foreign policy”, Qom:
Research office of Islamic culture and Science.
12
Rosenan (1971)
13
Brecher (1992)
14
Alemi, Abdul Rahman (1375), “Fundamentals of politics”, Tehran: Nai Publisher
Difference between Domestic and Foreign policy
The difference between foreign and domestic policy may appear clear and simple; however,
drawing a line that neatly separates the two can be rather complicated. In fact, in the complex
world of politics everything seems to be strictly linked and correlated to the point that almost
every action taken in the realm of foreign policy has an echo in the domestic sphere and vice
versa.

However, from a theoretical perspective, we can identify a number of differences between the
two.

The term “foreign policy” encompasses all actions made by a country in the international context
with regard to other States or to international institutions. Such actions include

 Ratifying international (bilateral or multilateral) treaties or conventions;

 Adhering to international law (which includes international human rights law,
international humanitarian law, etc.);
 Getting involved in international multilateral bodies such as the United Nations;
 Complying with the regulations set out in international treaties and conventions;
 Providing foreign aid to other countries;
 Sending peacekeepers to missions coordinated by international institutions;
 Funding international mechanisms;
 Advocating for the creation of international institutions;
 Funding and supporting international governmental and nongovernmental organizations;
 Undertaking diplomatic efforts and actions;
 Creating alliances and ties with other countries;
 Providing military, structural, and financial support to other countries;
 Providing military, structural, and financial support to non-state actors;
 Outsourcing state-owned corporations;
 Intervening in international and national conflicts; and
 Supporting countries (or areas) affected by natural disasters. (Legal dictionary)15

Conversely, the term “domestic policy” refers to all actions and decisions related to issues
concerning the domestic sphere of a country, including business, the environment, health care,
education, taxes, energy, social welfare, collective and individual rights, law enforcement,
housing, immigration, military, religion, and the economy.

In democratic countries, whenever a candidate runs for office (President, Prime Minister, etc.),
he/she must include programs concerning both foreign and domestic policies in his/her
campaign. For instance, during the recent 2016 US Presidential campaigns, we saw Donald
15
Legal dictionary
Trump and Hillary Clinton expose their foreign and domestic agendas. They tackled topics
related to the role of the United States in Syria, the fight against terrorism, taxes, the replacement
(or improvement) of Obamacare, and many other topics.

Winning an elections—any regular election—is a matter of combining good domestic and

foreign policies in order to gain the trust and the support of the masses. (Alemi, Abdul Rahman
1375: 47-48)16

Domestic policy of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai became leader of Afghanistan in the same year as the US-led invasion of his
country in 2001, and is due to step down in 2014 - the year that all NATO combat troops are
scheduled to leave his country.

16
Alemi, Abdul Rahman (1375), “Fundamentals of politics”, Tehran: Nai Publisher.
The fact he has survived in office for so long is no mean achievement in a country renowned for
its violence and volatility.

Despite criticism at home and abroad over his stewardship, President Karzai is now one of Asia's
longest serving leaders.

He has faced numerous and competing challenges. Not least was the task of pulling the country
together in the aftermath of years of rule by the Taliban, who were ousted in the US-led invasion.

This meant trying to unite factions that were previously at war with one another - from ex-
Communists and former mujahideen to Taliban who had moved on and Northern Alliance
figureheads.

One major plank of his strategy was to seek peace with the Taliban by inviting them to talks.

But Mr Karzai's government's relations with NATO and his relationship with the US in particular
have become increasingly strained in recent years and have inevitably dominated the headlines.

'American stooge'

Urbane, well-educated, Westernized and stylish, Mr. Karzai was initially feted by foreign
governments.

And in 2004, he became the first popularly elected president of Afghanistan - nearly three years
after being appointed the country's interim leader.

He has for the most part consistently succeeded in attracting overseas investment to rebuild his
war-torn country. The shops and businesses now flourishing in Kabul and to a lesser extent in
other towns and cities are proof of that.

In July 2012, for example, international donors at a conference on Afghanistan pledged to give it
$16bn (£10.3bn) in civilian aid over four years to safeguard its future after foreign forces leave.
In the preceding decade, $60bn was donated.

But at times foreign governments have had a low opinion of the Afghan leader, criticising him
for his failure to prevent corruption and to confront the traditionalists in order to promote
women's rights.

His principal enemy, however, have been the Taliban, who have frequently accused him of being
an American stooge: They say they cannot do business with him.
So it is perhaps ironic that his increasingly fraught relations with the US may prove to be the
defining aspect of his time in power.

An indication of just how fragile those relations are was clearly seen in March 2013 when the
president accused both Washington and the Taliban of colluding to prolong the conflict and the
stay of foreign forces in his country.

His remarks were condemned in leaked comments by the senior Nato leadership as "a catalyst
for some to lash out against our forces".

But they also reflected the president's growing frustration over what he saw as American
attempts to undermine his government's authority.

One goal definitely shared with Washington is his constant refrain to pressure Pakistan to do
more to eliminate Taliban sanctuaries on its soil.

In later years, President Karzai also became frustrated about his continued reliance on foreign
forces, and he clashed with the US over the issue of civilian casualties caused by NATO, US
detention centers and the very approach of the war, which he stressed was not focused on
dismantling militant sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Battle against corruption

Mr. Karzai has survived numerous assassination attempts - in 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2008 - but
his admirers point out that he has never allowed the threat of death to force him into being seen
less often in public.

His critics say that his writ does not extend much beyond Kabul, and is likely to be further
weakened after foreign forces withdraw and the Taliban fill some of that vacuum.

Likewise in the battle against corruption Mr. Karzai has a patchy record.

While successfully attracting billions of dollars of international aid to his country, much of it is
believed to have been lost because of widespread corruption.

The president admitted that corruption existed in his government and established a special
commission to tackle it. But he repeatedly accused international donors of a lack of transparency
in allocating big contracts.
On the issue of women's rights, the president was widely praised in 2009 for approving a law -
which at the time did not need parliamentary approval - that stipulated that violence against
women was illegal.

But in 2012 he endorsed a "code of conduct" issued by an influential council of clerics which
under certain circumstances allowed husbands to beat their wives.

Pashtun heartland

His personal history reflects the turbulent history of the country.

Born on 24 December 1957 in Afghanistan's Pashtun heartland, Kandahar, he was educated in

Kabul and went to university in Shimla, India as a fluent English speaker.

In the early 1980s, he joined the struggle against the Soviet invasion of his country and became
director of information at the Afghan National Liberation Front (ANLF).

He served as deputy foreign minister after the mujahideen took over Kabul in 1992. But he
resigned after war between various factions broke out. Thousands of people were killed and most
of the capital, Kabul, destroyed.

When the Taliban erupted on to Afghanistan's political scene in the mid-1990s, Mr. Karzai
initially supported them.

However, he became suspicious of the movement, fearing it had been infiltrated by foreigners
including Pakistanis and Arabs.

Eager to build a broad-based government, he found himself in pole position to lead his country
following the Taliban's fall after slipping into Afghanistan from Pakistan - where his family had
lived in exile for some years - in October 2001.

By the time a United Nations-sponsored conference met in December of that year in Bonn,
Germany to set up an interim government for Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai had strong American
backing and was advancing on the Taliban stronghold, Kandahar, with his tribal supporters from
a newly established base in Uruzgan province.

And as a royalist Pashtun from the south, he was accepted as the right man with the right
credentials to be new leader by all the parties at the Bonn Conference.
Mr. Karzai was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term as president. Whether the 2014
elections result in a smooth democratic transition or more conflict will to some extent determine
whether his years in power come to be regarded as success or failure. (BBC News 2014)17

Foreign policy of Hamid Karzai

After winning a democratic mandate in the 2004 election and removing many of the former
Northern Alliance warlords from his cabinet, it was thought that Karzai would pursue a more
aggressively reformist path in 2005. However, Karzai proved to be more cautious than was
expected.

Ever since Karzai's new administration took over in 2004, the economy of Afghanistan has been
growing rapidly for the first time in many years. Government revenue is increasing every year,
although it is still heavily dependent on foreign aid.

On 20 September 2006, Karzai told the United Nations General Assembly that Afghanistan has
become the "worst victim" of terrorism. Karzai said terrorism is "rebounding" in his country,
with militants infiltrating the borders to wage attacks on civilians. He stated, "This does not have
its seeds alone in Afghanistan. Military action in the country will, therefore, not deliver the
shared goal of eliminating terrorism." He demanded assistance from the international community
to destroy terrorist sanctuaries inside and outside Afghanistan. "You have to look beyond
Afghanistan to the sources of terrorism," he told the UN General Assembly, and "destroy
terrorist sanctuaries beyond" the country, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that
recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm, and deploy terrorists. These activities are also robbing
thousands of Afghan children of their right to education, and prevent health workers from doing
their jobs in Afghanistan. In addition he promised to eliminate opium-poppy cultivation in the
country, which helps fuel the ongoing insurgency. He has repeatedly demanded that NATO and
U.S.-led coalition forces take more care when conducting military operations in residential areas
to avoid civilian casualties which undermine his government's already weak standing in parts of
the country.

During the Karzai administration, public discontent grew about corruption and the civilian
casualties in the fight against the Taliban insurgency. In May 2006, riots broke out in Kabul,
when after a fatal traffic accident in the town involving a US military convoy security forces
opened fire on protesters. During the rush, in Kabul's northern outskirts a truck went out of
control and crashed into a dozen vehicles, killing at least one person and injuring six. Angry
Afghans then threw stones, smashing windows in the convoy vehicles. Afghan police also
opened fire, when they came to the assistance of the US troops. Rioters set two police cars alight.
At least seven civilians were killed during the protest and 40 wounded. Thousands of protesters
marched through the capital shouting slogans against Karzai and the US. By early afternoon, up
17
BBC News (18 July 2014), “Afghanistan’s President Karzai”
to 2,000 protesters had gathered in central Kabul, some marching on parliament and some on the
presidential palace. Several hundred more congregated at an intersection near the US embassy. A
few dozen people forced their way past a police cordon guarding the road to the US embassy and
threw stones at vehicles carrying foreigners into the compound, prompting the occupants to fire
into the air before turning back. The unrest left at least seven people dead and 40 injured.

In a video broadcast on 24 September 2006, Karzai stated that if the money wasted on the Iraq
War was actually spent on rebuilding Afghanistan, his country would "be in heaven in less than
one year". In May 2007, after as many as 51 Afghan civilians were killed in a bombing, Karzai
asserted that his government "can no longer accept" casualties caused by the US and NATO
operations.

Foreign relation

Karzai with US President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during a US-
Afghan-Pakistan Trilateral meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Karzai's relations with the United States were the strongest, because the U.S. was the leading
nation helping to rebuild Afghanistan. The United States helped put him in office in late 2001 to
lead his nation. Karzai's relations with Pakistan were also strong, especially with Pakistan's
Awami National Party (ANP). In December 2007, Karzai and his delegates travelled to
Islamabad, Pakistan, for a usual meeting with Pervez Musharraf on trade ties and intelligence
sharing between the two Islamic states. Karzai also met and had a 45-minute talk with Benazir
Bhutto on the morning of 27 December, hours before her trip to Liaquat National Bagh, where
she was assassinated after her speech. After Bhutto's death, Karzai called her his sister and a
brave woman who had a clear vision "for her own country, for Afghanistan, and for the region –
a vision of democracy, prosperity, and peace." In September 2008, Karzai was invited on a
special visit to witness the swearing in ceremony of Asif Ali Zardari, who became the new
President of Pakistan. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have improved since PPP
members Zardari and Yousaf Raza Gillani took office. The two nations often make contacts with
one another concerning the war on terrorism and trade. Pakistan even allowed NATO forces
stationed in Afghanistan to launch attacks on illegal militant groups in Pakistan. This was
something strongly opposed by the previous government of Pakistan. The two states finally
signed into law the long awaited Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement in 2011, which
among other things allow shipment truck to travel from one state to the other.

Although the U.S. and others often charge that Iran is meddling in Afghanistan's affairs, Karzai
stated that Iran is a friend despite Iranian-made weapons being found in his country.

We did interdict a shipment, without question the Revolutionary Guard's core Quds Force,
through a known Taliban facilitator. Three of the individuals were killed... 48 122 millimeter
rockets were intercepted with their various components... Iranians certainly view as making life
more difficult for us if Afghanistan is unstable. We don't have that kind of relationship with the
Iranians. That's why I am particularly troubled by the interception of weapons coming from Iran.
But we know that it's more than weapons; it's money; it's also according to some reports, training
at Iranian camps as well. – General David Petraeus, Commander of US-NATO forces in
Afghanistan, 16 March 2011

In 2007, Karzai said that Iran, so far, has been a helper in the reconstruction process. On 5
August 2007, Karzai was invited to Camp David in Maryland, USA, for a special meeting with
U.S. President George W. Bush. In October 2007, Karzai again rejected Western accusations
against Iran, stating, "We have resisted the negative propaganda launched by foreign states
against the Islamic Republic, and we stress that aliens' propaganda should not leave a negative
impact on the consolidated ties between the two great nations of Iran and Afghanistan." Karzai
added, "The two Iranian and Afghan nations are close to each other due to their bonds and
commonalities, they belong to the same house, and they will live alongside each other for good."
However, just a year prior Karzai warned that, "Iran, Pakistan, and others are not fooling
anyone."

If they don't stop, the consequences will be ... that the region will suffer with us equally. In the
past we have suffered alone; this time everybody will suffer with us.... Any effort to divide
Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create the same thing in the neighboring countries. All
the countries in the neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should
know that it is a different ball game this time.

Some international criticism has centered around the government of Karzai in early 2009 for
failing to secure the country from Taliban attacks, systemic governmental corruption, and most
recently, widespread claims of electoral fraud in the 2009 Afghan presidential election. Karzai
staunchly defended the election balloting, stating that some statements criticizing the balloting
and vote count were "totally fabricated." He told the media that, "There were instances of fraud,
no doubt... There were irregularities... But the election as a whole was good and free and
democratic." He further went on to say that, "Afghanistan has its separate problems and we have
to handle them as Afghanistan finds it feasible... This country was completely destroyed...
Today, we are talking about fighting corruption in Afghanistan, improved legal standards... You
see the glass half empty or half full. I see it as half full. Others see it as half empty."

In June 2010, Karzai travelled to Japan for a five-day visit where the two nations discussed a
new aid provided by the hosting nation and the untapped mineral resources recently announced.
Karzai invited Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi and others to invest in Afghan mining
projects. He told Japanese officials that Japan would be given priority in the bid to explore its
resources. He stated, "morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries
that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years." While in Japan, Karzai also made
his first visit to Hiroshima to pray for the atomic bomb victims. Japan has provided billions of
dollars in aid to Afghanistan since the beginning of 2002. In October 2010, Karzai acknowledged
that the Government of Iran has been providing millions of dollars directly to his office.
(Monadi, Sayed Mahdi 1393)18

Domestic Policy of Ashraf Ghani

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Was selected as the president of Afghanistan in 2014 when
all Afghans worried about the security situation here. When he was selected as president of
Afghanistan, he faced with oppositions of (Mujahiden) Islamic Jamiat Party. On that time Dr.
Abdullah and his team including Mujahiden and two populated tribe Hazara and Tajik strongly
stood up and didn’t accept the result of election. Therefore, US president interfered in this
oppositions and finally the government of national unity formed in support of USA that Ghani
became president and Abdullah selected as chief executive.

President Ghani in beginning of his government emphasized on Kabul Bank case and then he
and Abdullah formed the cabinet together. After three years he got all the responsibilities of the
government and when G.Dostom the first vice president found a case he had to escape and leave
the country to Turkey.

Ghani ousted a number of ministers and governors who disobedient from central government in
the term of Karzai and in his own presidency and appointed new ministers and governors. Ghani
got ousting policy with oppositions, negotiable and peacefully policy with Taliban. (Faizy,
Wahid 1396)19

Foreign policy of Ashraf Ghani

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani beside strong and serious policy inside Afghanistan, he has
got different policy with other countries. Ghani has got soft and friendly policy with China,
USA, UK, European countries and India. He has gotten normal and customary policy with
Russia, Tehran, and other neighboring countries except Pakistan. But he has kept week relations
and serious policy with Pakistan.

President Ghani from the beginning of his government has tried to develop the economic system
of the country and he called for people to use domestic productions several times even he
protected using Pakistani food and fruit for security forces that these points distinguished the
policy of Ghani and Karzai. (Faizy, Wahid 1396)20

18
Monadi, Sayed Mahdi (1393), “Hamid Karzai and his relations with friend countries”, Kabul: 8Sobh Persian
Newspaper.
19
Faizy, Wahid (1396), “Deplomacy of Ghani inside Afghanistan”, Kabul: Mandegar newspaper.
20
Faizy, Wahid (1396), “Deplomacy of Ghani inside Afghanistan”, Kabul: Mandegar newspaper.
Conclusion
At the end of this articles I concluded that, having fair and suitable policy and guide and progress
the affairs of a country correctly.

Policy is the collection of principles, rules and activities that countries and organizations need it
for carrying out the affairs and managing the administrations.

There are two big categories of policies that counties have to follow them for governing the
country, as domestic policy includes peaceful and none-peaceful leaderships, relations among the
people and crowds inside the country.

Foreign policy includes the ties and relationships with other countries, that is usually in politic
relations, economical and commercial communications.

This article has discussed about the review of domestic and foreign policy of Ashraf Ghani and
Hamid Karzai that finally it revealed that Karzai had normal and soft domestic and foreign
policy, but Ghani is very serious than Karzai and has his own policy for every country.