INDEPTH: A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Christopher Alexander (Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan)
CBC News Online | February 23 2004
Reporter: Michel Cormier
Christopher Alexander is Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan. It's by no means a cushy position and it comes with its share of unusual duties, so we wondered about his assessment of the situation six months after taking on the assignment.
Alexander is getting ready to go on night patrol with Canadian soldiers in the streets of Kabul. Not typical work for an ambassador, but then this is Afghanistan, and here, spending time with the troops, especially after the death of Cpl. Jamie Murphy, is important.
"By being with them on a patrol, by being with them for briefings, we show them that we share that sense of loss, but that we also sense the share of purpose that keeps us going," Alexander says.
At 35, Alexander is one of Canada's youngest ambassadors, and the first ever to Afghanistan. And it is, for the moment at least, one of Canada's most crucial diplomatic mandates. Alexander must co-ordinate Canada's largest military presence outside the country, its biggest aid package to any nation, while making sure that Canada is a political player in rebuilding Afghanistan.
"Holding all of that together, making all of that coherent and ensuring we all pull in the same direction is a job that goes a little bit beyond traditional embassy activity. So we do have a sense of mission," Alexander says.
The mission is to help the Afghan government make the country a safe and functioning democracy by disarming the warlords and holding elections. And it means using every available opportunity to get the job done.
Taking time to nurture personal relationships with major players is key in a country where a handshake is worth more than a signature, and where communications are difficult.
The ambassador, like most people, has two cellphones with two networks. Most of the time he'll get one of the two to work.
"There's a can-do spirit out here, on the Afghan side, on the international side, that allows us to achieve things in spite of infrastructure that is limited, phones that don't work, and that's fun," Alexander says.
That is, if your idea of fun includes sharing a house with the people you work with. For security reasons, the embassy staff all live in the same house. Every morning, before he meets with her at the embassy, Alexander has coffee with his political counsellor at home.
"And you get to know people in different ways, and you have a different quality of work because of that. So that part, I think most people find surprisingly gratifying. They're expecting it to be annoying. But it helps build the team spirit here," he says.
The homey atmosphere doesn't hide the fact that Alexander could be a prime target for the Taliban or al-Qaeda. He has 24-hour close protection from elite troops and travels around Kabul in an armoured vehicle.
"They look for weak targets, and we can't afford to be that target. We can't afford to have our soldiers be that target, the development workers, or our diplomats," Alexander says.
The stakes are high for Canada and its ambassador. Never has the Canadian government invested so much in a trouble spot.
"This country has failed in the past. Things have gone backwards. Or pear-shaped, as people like to say," Alexander says. "But, at the same time, there's a huge opportunity here now, and there has been progress. Now, we're only as good as the last success."
Christopher Alexander believes Afghanistan is moving forward, but he knows that it is still so very fragile.
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