Center for a New American Security

I know a lot of smart Republican analysts of the war in Afghanistan who must be absolutely cringing as they listen to Sarah Palin beat up on Barack Obama for presuring Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Steve Biegun served as Palin's foreign and defense policy advisor during the 2008 campaign, and one wonders what goes through his head when she says something as incredibly ill-advised as what she said today. Cheering for Hamid Karzai right now is like rooting for Duke against Butler. Or Goldman Sachs against homeowners. Or Tiger Woods against Elin Nordegren.

But as I thought about it a little more, it occured to me that it makes perfect sense that a former governor of Alaska would cheer for the president of Afghanistan. The two states are really quite similar:

1. They are both home to spectacular natural beauty and mineral wealth.
2. The political process in each is hopelessly corrupt.
3. They are both rentier states. In 2004 and 2005, according to research done by this woman, fully 69% of Afghanistan's budget was externally financed. Those same years, Alaska suckled at the teat of the federal government more than any other state in the union on a per capita basis. (Go here for the 2004 figures, and here for the 2005 figures.) Palin wasn't yet the governor of Alaska in 2005, but you'll note in the 2008 figures that Alaska continued to trail only Wyoming among states receiving federal aid on a per capita basis.* My back of the envelope calculations suggest that Alaska received about $23.4b in federal aid during the same time period (2001-2009) in which Afghanistan was receiving approximately $37.7b in aid and development funding from the United States. Alaska, meanwhile, and at the same time that it was receiving massive amounts of federal aid, distributed $13,599.16 in annual payments from the Alaska Permanent Fund to each individual in the state.

I'm not going to go all Theda Skocpol on you and explain the consequences of rentier states. Suffice it to say, though, that they encourage political classes unaccountable to the people they govern. Which is perhaps one of the reasons why Hamid Karzai is not particularly responsive to the needs of the average voter in Zabul Province. And maybe why you never see Sarah Palin feel the need to hold a press conference where people can ask questions that haven't been pre-screened.

Oh, and by the way, if you think using leverage to affect the political choices made by the Afghan leadership is not a good thing right now, then you are a) Liz Cheney, b) Sarah Palin, c) a blithering idiot or d) some combination of the previous options.

*Ever notice how the states with allegedly libertarian tendencies blush the least when accepting federal funds?