Berlin will now rely on local notions of legitimacy and on traditions to help stabilize fragile states. What will this mean, however, for Afghan women, who until now have been dramatically underrepresented in all government bodies, and whose desire for political participation is openly met with insult, persecution, and violence? These women suffer daily under the strict conservative and patriarchal structures of society. In the name of a just social peace, it should be a matter of fighting against such structures rather than accepting them.