It is argued that the battle to restore the sovereignty of the afghan state will be won or lost subnationally. Victory will be more likely if, following ghani and Lockhart (2008), citizen security can be assured; if the rule of law can be upheld without fear or favour; if reasonably effective, merit-based and accountable leadership and administrative means for service delivery can be institutionalized; and if social policies can be implemented which cut across regions and ethnic groups. However, progress towards these ambitious ends and the introduction in its support of pragmatic, evidence-based policy to strengthen the existing deconcentrated system of subnational governance (SNg) are hampered by stakeholder conceptual confusion about SNg, questionable donor altruism and largely incommensurable and irreconcilable SNg policy paradigms. Success will depend on whether links can be forged between SNg pragmatic imperatives and political expediency and on perceptions of policy compatibility with democracy promotion.