A royal fix for Afghanistan?

Earlier this month Niall Ferguson, arguing the advantages of monarchies, wagered that “taking all the world’s polities over the last 100 years, the republics have, on average, witnessed more succession crises than the monarchies.” Monarchies, it seems, may have the ability to temper the upheaval of political succession. In Thailand, the king has proved to be pivotal in ...

Earlier this month Niall Ferguson, arguing the advantages of monarchies, wagered that "taking all the world's polities over the last 100 years, the republics have, on average, witnessed more succession crises than the monarchies." Monarchies, it seems, may have the ability to temper the upheaval of political succession.

Earlier this month Niall Ferguson, arguing the advantages of monarchies, wagered that “taking all the world’s polities over the last 100 years, the republics have, on average, witnessed more succession crises than the monarchies.” Monarchies, it seems, may have the ability to temper the upheaval of political succession.

In Thailand, the king has proved to be pivotal in the current crisis. Kingship, anachronistic though it seems, remains a potent symbol of authority. And as an institution, it remains quite popular; one in four countries still retains some form of monarchy. As constitutional heads of state, the monarchy remains a symbol that focuses the national imagination.

All of this leads me to wonder: Where in the world is Zahir Shah? The popular former king of Afghanistan has all but disappeared from the scene after having jump-started the loya jirga in 2002. A Pashtun and a royal, he may just provide the struggling government the symbol of unity needed to rally the Pashtun tribes. After all, in both Cambodia (1993) and Spain (1975), the transition to democracy was overseen by a restored monarchy. In any case, seeing as how bad things are outside of Kabul, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to coax Zahir out of retirement.   

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