Architecture of
Peace

Specialist Operations is proud to be one of the contributors of Volume issue 40; Architecture of Peace, Reloaded. The article, photo essay, and mission map –titled Learning Nation-Building; A Battle Cry for Spatial Participation in Postwar Reconstruction – describe the project we currently undertake in Afghanistan.

For Afghanistan, war is not a single event but a recurring one. Its astonishing landscape is littered with the detritus of endless conflicts. Now, Afghanistan is subject to the largest reconstruction mission in human history, what we nowadays call ‘nation-building’. In the last decade alone, the United States committed more than 100 billion dollars toward its reconstruction.

But the failure of contemporary efforts to shape positive changes in Afghanistan seriously questions the legacy left by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Of the estimated 44,000 projects undertaken, numerous examples form a stark physical illustration of a conflict little discussed; a chronic mismatch between western reconstruction doctrine and the reality on the ground.

The editorial introduction can be found at: http://volumeproject.org/2014/07/loaded/

A preview can be found here: http://issuu.com/archis/docs/volume_40_preview?e=1161742%2F8645590

To purchase a copy:http://bruil.info/magazine-volume-2014-2-40-architecture-of-peace-reloaded