In this falsecolor satellite image vegetation appears fluorescent green, urban areas range in. Author thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan and ultimately finds. A cultural and political history by thomas barfield. The kite runner by khaled hosseini, a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini, and the mountains echoed by khaled hossein. The best books on understanding the war in afghanistan. The book was decent but i was bored by the 4th chapter.
Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aymaq, turkmen, baloch, pashai, nuristani, gujjar, arab, brahui, pamiri and a few others. There are several books that are excellent in covering different aspects of afghanistans history. The book begins with a thorough overview of the ethnic groups, settlement. In political tribes, chua, a law professor at yale, takes stock. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and. Some of the political parties in afghanistan are as follow. A cultural and political history by thomas barfield is a learned, detailed, well written book by an anthropologist, not a historian. Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostlytribal society. The taliban, which defines itself as the islamic emirate of afghanistan, was defeated militarily after it sheltered al qaida in 2001, but it remains a major challenge for the afghan government. Now and in the past, the political stability in afghanistan has been threatened mainly by rural residents. Written by an expert, with the stylistic flair to be savored by the nonexpert, afghanistan also has judgments worthy of scholarly reflection. Barfield has captured political, social, and cultural insights of extraordinary importance to the policy arguments of today and tomorrow. As parliamentary elections approach in september 2005, early hopes that a strong, pluralistic political party system would help stabilise afghanistans political transition are fading. Three factors contributing to afghanistans instability.
Those government institutions established during the reign of. The extraordinary story of a band of us soldiers who rode to victory in afghanistan that was published. To understand afghan society, read before taliban and heroes of the age by david edwards, and afghanistan. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority. This book is an authoritative and wellwritten summary of what we might call the majority view. Ibn khaldun began writing the book in 75 so its certainly the oldest on my list. The islamic republic of iran hopes that formation of an inclusive government with the participation of all political factions and groups of afghanistan would. The population of the country is divided into the following ethnolinguistic groups. How the horse soldiers helped liberate afghanistan from.
Unlike in the wake of the soviet withdrawal in 1989, this time the. The contributions are pertinent and valuable to students of comparative politics generally, as well as to specialists on the selected countries. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political. Barfield vividly describes how afghanistans armed factions plunged. The crisis and politics of ethnicity in afghanistan. In the late eighteenth century, kabul was established as afghanistans capital. Asking provocative questions about why groups form around particular ethnic identities or local needs, chua begins with a discussion of american exceptionalismand blindness to political tribes which are never clearly definedand then moves on to test her framework in chapters on vietnam, afghanistan, iraq, and venezuela. Reading this fascinating book is like registering for a survey course in. Thomas barfield is one of the most visible members of these groups.
Currently, almost all insurgent groups such as the taliban are based in rural areas. Her short book relies on a handful of case studies and examples to draw broad conclusions, so scholars will want to be. Political organizations princeton university press. The afghan national anthem and the afghan constitution mention a total of 14 ethnic groups. Thus we are privileged to see the landscape, the people, and rulers, the events through different eyes. The us has repeatedly misdiagnosed the war in afghanistan. Rival afghan opposition groups meet this morning in germany in a preliminary effort to fashion a unified government. The new cold war politics in afghanistan the diplomat. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. This impressive book results from lees professional lifetimes work in afghanistan.
The political culture of afghanistan is an infusion of religious and traditional elements, divided subcultures and mutually reinforcing fissures. For the first time in more than two decades, there was a real possibility of peace and stability in the country. Afghanistans political and constitutional development. For more than 3,000 years, kabul has occupied a strategic location along central and southern asian trade routes. Social structures and political culture of afghanistan differs from region to region, from one nationality to the other, encompassing a heterogeneous ethnicity, religion and language. Thomas barfield, a professor of anthropology at boston university, seeks to answer the questions of how afghanistans cultural and political history has both united the country and torn it apart on a cyclical basis and how this cycle has repeated under the current us occupation. Pashtu and pashtunness are distinct from the label afghan and marginal to the afghan state and the persianate kingdoms of afghanistan. Foreign designations and listings, community relations, relations with other groups, state sponsors and external influences. United states institute of peace, political parties in afghanistan are often dismissed by international and afghan observers as unruly and highly personalized organizations that contribute little to the democratic process. A cultural and political history, boston university anthropology professor thomas. Anthropologist and afghanistan expert thomas barfield gives a panoramic view of afghanistan, from founding dynasties to the failed central asian states of today. The author blames blindness to tribalism for the disastrous outcomes. No political party is permitted to exist that advocates anything that is deemed to go against islamic morality. All ethnic groups in afghanistan except farsiwans persian speakers, including hazaras, tajiks must learn farsi in order to actively participate in the civil and political society of afghanistan.
A cultural and political history is an invaluable book. The best books on afghanistan recommended by thomas barfield. A major work by one of americas eminent political scientists, political organizations has had a profound impact on how we view the influence of interest groups on policymaking. Since 2001, however, they have been able to register officially as organizations. Doug bandow, washington times a brilliant book to educate all of us about a country we should know and appreciate. These include mohammed daoud khan s national revolutionary party of afghanistan, the peoples democratic party and the democratic watan party of afghanistan from the communist era, and the northern alliance that took power after the fall of kabul in april 1992, and ran the country until the taliban s coup in 1996. Contributors to the volume are established scholars in their fields and successfully focus on the pertinent issues with a good mix of facts, analysis, and theoretical orientation. Hanif atmar to come to terms with the taliban for a political settlement. Political parties in afghanistan summary political parties in afghanistan have no historical precedent of a legal, formalized role within the political system.
Elections in afghanistan, particularly those in 2014, have provided a. This article lists political parties in afghanistan afghanistan has a multiparty system in development with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. List of political parties in afghanistan wikipedia. Additionally, nutsch and oda 595s story is the subject of the book, horse soldiers. Former soldier, andrew exum, tells us about flawed policy, unhappy outcomes and what could and should have been different. Barfield vividly describes how afghanistans armed factions plunged the country into a. Afghanistans political and constitutional development abstract the events of 11 september brought dramatic changes to the political landscape of afghanistan. The modernization policies of king zahir shah in the 1940s led to the formation of several political groupings, and the 1960s saw the growth of communist parties. Reprising some ideas from her book world on fire 2002 on the negative consequences of exporting free market democracy, chua examines americas failed involvement in vietnam, afghanistan, iraq, and venezuela as well as responses to terrorist groups. The troubled central asian country needs to develop a political system based on a panafghan vision. Since the coup in 1973, afghanistan has had many different political parties.
On the basis of the most of afghanistans political, social, economic, and cultural problems lie in many cases entwined ethnic and sectarian elements. Barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan. A cultural and political history, i hoped to find that answer and at the same time, that the book wouldnt be too dry or heavy on political rhetoric. The best books on afghanistan five books expert recommendations.
More information about afghanistan is available on the afghanistan page and from other department of state publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet. Decades of ethnic and political warfare helped turn afghanistan into a. The book contains nothing about the nomads of afghanistan. Barfields book is a welcome contribution to dispel notions such as the one above, and goes much further in promoting an academic interest for research in this region. A cultural and political history princeton studies in muslim. This entry identifies the countrys regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water. Mention afghanistan to someone and all they usually come up with is the notorious taliban or the crumbling ruins that appear on the news. Afghanistantraces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. G2 political groups in afghanistan public intelligence. Andrew exum recommends the best books for understanding the war in afghanistan. Underlying the negotiations is the unsettled state of afghan politics, and prospects for a sustainable political settlement remain unclear. It is pessimistic, to say the least, to comment that the people of afghanistan are ungovernable. Political groups in afghanistan are very fluid, coalitions, fronts and political alliances form and dissolve quickly2 allegiances between groups shift according to the convictions of their leaders rather than by ideology individual parties split, reunify andor rename themselves constantly, leading to confusion in party existence and names2. Barfield does not give the united states a way out of afghanistan, but he does provide the context necessary for good policymaking.
The governments of afghanistan, pakistan, and iran are corrupted, drugs are passing borders in large quantity, the taliban are using the drugs as a main effort to finance their operations. A cultural and political history for free in a convenient format epub, pdf, fb2, mobi. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in. Soviet invasion of afghanistan, military action carried out in late december 1979 by soviet troops. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that. Daoud lost most of his political support, communist factions overthrew him in 1978. The soviet union intervened in support of the afghan communist government in its conflict with anticommunist muslim guerrillas during the afghan war 197892 and remained in. Opinion war and politics in afghanistan the new york times.
1127 1248 111 219 25 1270 383 197 1258 458 1283 614 979 590 767 1407 690 332 160 48 1105 195 243 350 806 1025 673 769