Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and PoliticsA fascinating chronicle of a nation's turbulent history. Reaching back to earliest times, Martin Ewans examines the historical evolution of one of today's most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism. After a succession of early dynasties and the emergence of an Afghan empire during the eighteenth century, the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fierce power struggle between Russia and Britain for supremacy in Afghanistan that was ended by the nation's proclamation of independence in 1919. A communist coup in the late 1970s overthrew the established regime and led to the invasion of Soviet troops in 1979. Roughly a decade later, the Soviet Union withdrew, condemning Afghanistan to a civil war that tore apart the nation's last remnants of religious, ethnic, and political unity. It was into this climate that the Taliban was born. Today, war-torn and economically destitute, Afghanistan faces unique challenges as it looks toward an uncertain future. Martin Ewans carefully weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at Afghanistan's prospects and the international resonances of the nation's immense task of total political and economic reconstruction. |
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... Islam is both the national religion and the basis of its overriding culture and values , the majority of Afghans being Sunnis of the Hanafi school . Insofar as there has been a sense of unity in the country , it is Islam , with its ...
A Short History of Its People and Politics Martin Ewans. country , it is Islam , with its concept of community and ... Islamic law and tradition , and the qazis and muftis , who exercise judicial functions . Further cen- ters of ...
... Islam at the end of the last century , they were known as kafirs ( infidels ) and practiced a polytheistic religion that included a form of ancestor worship , carving strange wooden figures to adorn the graves of their dead . Many of ...
... Islam , a sense of national unity has thus always been weak , except when an unusually strong leader has appeared or the nation has come together when threatened by an external enemy . Even then , cooperation has tended to be ephemeral ...
... Islamic militancy and concerned to exercise influence in it , or at least to keep it in check . It is a potential participant in regional trade , where its pivotal position could give it a role that it has not possessed since the ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
29 | |
The Rise of Dost Mohammed | 45 |
The First AngloAfghan War | 59 |
Dost Mohammed and Sher Ali | 71 |
The Second AngloAfghan War | 86 |
Abdur Rahman The Iron Amir | 98 |
King Zahir and Cautious Constitutionalism | 164 |
The Return of Daoud and the Saur Revolution | 176 |
Khalq Rule and Soviet Invasion | 189 |
Occupation and Resistance | 206 |
Humiliation and Withdrawal | 226 |
Enter the Taliban | 249 |
Oil Drugs and International Terrorism | 272 |
The Fall of the Taliban | 284 |
Habibullah and the Politics of Neutrality | 110 |
Amanullah and the Drive for Modernization | 118 |
The Rule of the Brothers | 136 |
The First Decade | 152 |
Notes | 301 |
Bibliography | 317 |