Summery:
Known as the cross road and graveyard of empires, in the last three millennia Afghanistan has been invaded many times. Some of these invaders include Alexander the Great, Indians, Genghis Khan, Timur, Mughal Empire, Persian Empires, British Empire and the Soviet Union. These invaders have paid a significant price of fighting in Afghanistan. In the 19th century during the first Afghan-Anglo war in a massacre majority of around 16000 Indian and British military and civilians were captured and killed by Afghan warriors and the only couple of them survived. The former USSR invasion of Afghanistan resulted in the defeat and collapse of the entire Soviet Union. During these warfares, Afghans have gained immense experience at tactical, operational and strategic level.
As a landlocked country, neighboring China, Pakistan, Iran and Central Asian countries, Afghanistan has a significant geostrategic importance. The Khyber Pass, located between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been one of the most important trade routes and strategic military locations in the world. 4000 miles incant route, called the Silk Road, or Silk Route is one of the ancient world networks of trade, and cultural transmission routes are crossing Afghanistan. The route is known as a meeting point of the Indian,
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However, the security and defense of the country historically depend on militias, but in the tenth century During the Ghaznavid Empire Afghanistan developed its military. In 1719 Mirwais Khan Hotak established a strong military and defeated the Persian Empire and established an Afghan empire in the region. In 1729, Ahmad Shah Abdali restructured the army, established Durrani Empire and the modern Afghan military is seen as the legacy of his empire. Fighting against most of the world superpowers and empires, Afghans have gained enormous skills and experience in warfare, but they have not had sufficient
The financial and military support by the Pakistani government, as well as Saudi Arabia, China and United States contributed to withdrawal of Soviet troops form Afghanistan. The Soviets lost 15,000 troops, plus more than 500,000 troops were injured by 1989. The Afghan-Soviet was lasted for a decade and for the Soviet Union it was a costly mistake that historians claim to be a major factor in collapse of Soviet Union several years later. The victory of mujahidin was bitter sweet since more than 1 million Afghan lost their lives and 5 million people were displaced and the the political chaos between the mujahidin faction allowed the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan’s capital city in
Russian military involvement in Afghanistan has a long history, going back to Tsarist expansions in the long standing relationship between Russia and Britain (Rubin 1995). This began in the 19th century with such events as the Panjdeh Incident, a military conflict that occurred in 1885 when Russian forces seized Afghan territory south of the Oxus River around an oasis at Panjdeh (Rubin 1995). This interest in the region continued on through the Soviet era, with billions in economic and military aid sent to Afghanistan between 1955 and 1978 (Rubin 1995).
Before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, race and wealth defined power. At the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder were the Hazaras. The Hazaras had no power at all and some even thought they were a disgrace to Afghanistan, like Assef believed “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this flat nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood.” (Hosseini 33).
Women are still being isolated today even though a new form of government is in use and has been fifteen years since the rule of the Taliban. “Life as an Afghan Woman” points out that “women are [still] often hidden and isolated. Islamic extremists insist that women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a male relative.” Most women wear a burqa that completely covers their entire body, showing male dominance outside of the home as well. Women must cover themselves to avoid the possibility of men looking at them in an inappropriate way. Women have to dress in a head to toe burqa for the benefit of men. Also, the fact that girls live with their husband’s extended family often results in them being
The situation in Afghanistan actually began in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded their country. The United States funded money to the "mujahedin," or holy warriors, in the name of stopping communism. From this support, Afghanistan was able to defeat the Soviet Union in 1989. Yet the country became very unstable after the war. Political power was fluctuating often and leaders came in and out of power rapidly. Farmers resorted to growing many drugs such as poppies and marijuana and sold them around the globe. Cities were annihilated. Over five million Afghanis fled to other countries in search of a better life. When the Afghanis turned to the United States for help in rebuilding our country, we refused. This caused great anger amongst the Afghani people directed toward the United States. This also lead to Mullah Mohammod Omar, the current leader of Afghanistan, to form a ground of men to "rebuild" his country. They are now known as the Taliban. Omar's personal description is, "A simple band of dedicated youths determined to establish the laws of God on
Just as civil conflict led to international conflict, international conflict lead to additional threats from other countries. Although GB only became involved with Afghanistan to prevent Russia from invading, within two centuries their involvement became futile. In 1979, Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Even after a long period of independence in Afghanistan, Afghan troops were unable to defeat the Soviets. The war was brutal, and lasted for an entire decade. Afghanistan remained a weak state from the Soviet-Afghan war, which made them susceptible to intervention from the U.S in 2001. Both events, the Soviet invasion and the arrival of American troops, can be traced back to the border. The border led to complex issues which occurred in quick succession, therefore Afghanistan and Pakistan had to pay attention to the issues that were right in front of them, because they were so apparent and pressing. However, as Af and Pak were distracted, more powerful countries like America and Russia were able to invade. It was an awareness of surrounding political climates that kept Russia and GB out of Afghanistan during the first Anglo-Afghan war, but with their own borders and issues to worry about Af and Pak paid no attention to other
Afghanastan is known for being mountainous but the geography and climate are different depending on the part of the country. The country has three separate areas in terms of geography including the Central Highlands which has steep valleys and mountains that are dry and soil that is desert-steppe and meadow-steppe in other parts. The Southern Plateau has high plateaus and desert land. The climate is milder and the soil is not fertile except next to the river. The Northern Plains are very fertile with a major river and a lot of mineral deposits in the soil.
For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man
“Afghanistan was a monarchy ruled by King Zahir Shah. On July 17, 1973, when the king was on away on vacation, a man by the name of Mohammad Daoud Khan attained power. The military takeover did not cause any bloodshed, but as we see through Amir's story, it was still a frightening time for the people of Kabul who heard rioting and shooting in the streets. For six years, Mohammad Daoud Khan was President and Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Then, on April 27, 1978, he was violently overthrown by the PDPA, People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Daoud was killed in the coup along with most of his family. Even though Afghanistan had long insisted on maintaining its independence from Russia, the PDPA was a Communist party and therefore held close ties to the Soviet Union. The PDPA instituted many
The Afghani experience with the Soviet Union is nothing like Central Asian-Russian relations. Ideologically Russia had the same goal for both Central Asia and Afghanistan, hoping that one day both Central Asia and Afghanistan will eventually become Communist nations. The route chose to accomplish this goal did not pan out as planned. Central Asian countries were first invaded in 1715 and again in 1865, there was little to no resistance. Russia came with economic interest and nothing else, the search for gold and the prospect of the Fergana Valley cotton industry. They lived parallel lives, did not mix with the locals or even attempt to implement themselves in Central Asian government. Central Asia never had the ability to defend itself from Russia and Russia had a legitimate geostrategic interest in controlling the region keeping it safe from any ground forces attacking Russia. As for Afghanistan the only possible benefit of conquering it is to conquer it before Britain does, and since Britain was so unsuccessful at all its attempts that was not an issue. Most of Britain’s reasoning for invading Afghanistan came from Afghanistan’s acceptance of Russian relations.
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 1979, the goal was to help Afghan communist forces set up a communist government. The Soviet Union felt Afghanistan had key resources and a foothold in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. The result would be a war that the Soviet Union wishes it never got involved in and likened to their “Vietnam War”, meaning winning a number of battles but not the war like what happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. The background of the war, outcome of the war, and impact on the United States are key to understanding the Soviet-Afghan War.
Due to past events, the Afghan government is now struggling to keep up with their citizens’ problems with living there. Bombing, wars, harassment, feminism, and abuse have been some of the main topics of bad events in the last few years in Afghanistan. Dystopia is a society that can be characterized with extreme hunger, poverty, misery, and the imbalance among the people; the Taliban taking over was the cause of how Afghanistan is still dystopian today. When one analyzes Ashraf Ghani’s choice to allow the Taliban to form, and the impacts the Taliban are still having on the people, one can realize how important genres of literature can be to educate the world about this dystopian
After the fall of Amanullah Khan, Habibullah Khan Kalakani ruled for a short term and then the Musahiban family ruled over Afghanistan from 1929-1978. The Musahiban family halted the social changes that Amanullah Khan wanted to make which moved it away from developing the economy, state building and modernization. The economy was the same as it was at the turn of the century. The Musahiban family followed the policy of encapsulated modernization. They only focused on the centers the countryside areas remained untouched because of the fear of rising revolts. Under the Musahbian family they did not impose any changes or taxes, especially no taxes in cash which means they made the rural economy remain untouched. This means that there was no
Throughout history the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has faced numerous invasions, a series of civil wars and enormous bloodshed. In 1978 the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a coup against President Mohamed Daoud in what is known as the Saur Revolution. This revolution is said to be the catalyst for upheaval and armed resistance that would follow for the next 20 years. Opposition of the communist regime resulted in the rise of guerilla mujahideen forces that quickly escalated into a civil war. The Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisors in support of the PDPA government and soon established a soviet-organized government to stabilized Afghanistan under Babrak Karmal’s leadership. All the
New Zealand involvement in the Afghanistan War, related to the war in Afghanistan which has occurred from 1978 – referred to as the second Afghan Civil War ("Afghanistan Key facts and figures,"). Afghanistan is very complex place, with many different ethnic groups and languages, this is due to the geographical location of Afghanistan, a bit of a intersection of sorts culturally, the conflict that mostly influenced the beginning of what would eventually get New Zealand involved in the Afghanistan war was when Russia was pushing for more control and bordering on Afghanistan –this lead to communism with the Soviet Union, then the communism movement collapsed, and the eventual taking over of control of Afghanistan occurred by the Taliban– The Taliban were in control from around 1992 . But from 1996 to 2001 was the period commonly referred to as the “Taliban period” ("Taliban Facts, information, pictures,")– when the Taliban were most dominant. The Taliban originated from northern Pakistan, and were resistance fighters known as Mujahideen, who fought against the Russian Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan ("Taliban Regime,"). The Taliban are a Islamic fundamentalist political organisation that formed a government, and ruled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, initially looking like saviours to the people as they fought and won against a Russians, but once they took over they inflicted strict and harsh policies upon the people of Afghanistan, and were well