DATE=12/28/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=AFGHANISTAN: A CENTENIAL REVIEW
NUMBER=5-45134
BYLINE=ALI JALALI
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The end of the century finds Afghanistan in
the grips of a devastating civil war. The country,
which served as a security cushion between its
neighbors at the turn of the century, slipped into
violence at the end of the century. V-O-A's Ali
Jalali reviews the major events that shaped the
turbulent history of Afghanistan during the 20th
century.
TEXT: Reaction to foreign security threats and a
struggle for development have been the hallmark of
Afghan history in the 20th Century.
The country that long-blocked military clashes between
imperial Russia and British India, was forced to fight
both powers as the century wore on. Mostly untouched
by the two world wars, Afghanistan became the last
battlefield of the Cold War in 1980's with intense
superpower involvement.
The country also faced security challenges at home
during the uneasy peace between wars. Seven out of a
dozen Afghan rulers during the century were murdered
and two forced into exile.
The Director of the Council of Foreign Relations in
New York, Barnett Rubin, an author of several books on
Afghanistan, says the situation stems from the
country's limited resources and underdevelopment.
// Rubin Act //
Afghanistan is a very hard country to conquer by
foreigners, but for the same reason it is very
hard country to rule by its own people. It has
few resources, it is very large. Peoples are
scattered around and often in mountains and
deserts, so it is difficult to have access to
them and it is very expensive to administer that
territory and you do not get many resources to
pay for the administration.
// End Act //
King Amanullah's intensive reform program in the
1920's failed to create a major pro-reform
constituency. The shock therapy for modernization
cost him his throne and plunged the country into civil
war. Restoration of peace in 1929 ushered in a period
of tight government control and a strictly measured
modernization process.
// OPT // Professor Ludwig Adamac of Tucson
University says the governments had to rely on foreign
aid to finance the modernization program.
// ADAMAC ACT //
Most of the income and support for development
came from the outside. Afghanistan was still
largely an agricultural country with many areas
of subsistence agriculture; and there was little
to tax. Very little for the government other
than the customs and industries to tax to derive
adequate funds for modern development; and so,
yes, the good and the bad things of foreign
assistance were that a lot of money was wasted
and the country became dependent on foreign
assistance.
// END ACT // END OPT//
At the beginning of the second half of the century,
Afghanistan became a peaceful battlefield of the Cold
War, with both superpowers vying for influence through
economic assistance. But a political dispute with the
newly created state of Pakistan, an ally of the West,
forced the Afghan government to turn to the Soviet
Union for military assistance - a move that had a
major impact on the country's future.
This coincided with democratic changes from 1963 to
1973, during which a new urban-based educated elite
emerged as the core of political opposition to the
government. The new elite included a pro-Soviet
communist block and a revolutionary Islamist movement.
But the rise to power of the new elites brought
enormous violence and destruction to the nation. The
fall of the old regime by a pro-Moscow communist coup
in 1978 opened a long period of violence that turned
Afghanistan into a hotspot of the Cold War
competition.
The Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan became
Moscow's longest foreign war of the century. On the
other hand, assistance to the Islamic-led Afghan
resistance (Mujahedin) turned into the United States'
largest covert operation after World War Two.
But neither the end of more than nine-years of Soviet
military occupation in 1989, nor the collapse of the
Communist regime in 1992 brought peace to the country.
Once the Mujahedin forces drove out the common enemy
they turned their guns against each other in a power
struggle that fragmented the multi-ethnic country.
Meanwhile, the power of traditional anti-modernist
clerical circles grew. These rural-based forces -
currently embodied by the Taleban movement - consisted
of elements that Afghan governments tried to weaken
during the past 100-years.
Schooled in religious institutions (madrasas),
thousands of Afghan refugee students in Pakistan,
mullahs, and their supporters coalesced in 1994 into a
major political movement known as the Taleban.
The Taleban movement has been a popular reaction to
prevailing chaos in a broken state. Its commitment to
fighting corruption and lawlessness won the movement
massive popular support. But its radical Islamic
militia, that established control over 90-percent of
the country in less than five years, failed to
stabilize the country or create an effective
government.
The Taleban's imposition of far-reaching social
restrictions, their poor human-rights record and
economic failure, have discredited the militia as a
reactionary force incapable of meeting the challenges
of modern life.
As the century draws to a close the warring factions,
backed by their foreign supporters, are locked in
military conflict. The country is economically
bankrupt and suffers from U-N sanctions caused by the
Taleban's' refusal to extradite suspected terrorist
Usama Bin Laden. And Afghanistan has become the
largest producer of opium in the world.
Dr. Rubin says given the complexity of the situation a
comprehensive solution should be sought through wider
international involvement.
// RUBIN ACT //
Afghanistan would require a lot of care and
attention from the international community. In
today's world where things are perceived on the
basis of single issues whether it is Usama bin
Laden, or oil pipelines, or women's rights. And
the U-S government does not tend to take a
really comprehensive view of these problems, it
will be difficult to mobilize that kind of
attention.
// END ACT //
Writing 70-years ago, renowned Urdu poet Eqbal Lahori
hailed Afghanistan for its historical drive and
vitality. He called it the heart of Asia and said the
continent will suffer when the heart is in pain. Asia
is different today, but still the pain caused by
instability in Afghanistan is being felt far beyond
the Afghan borders. Analysts say the return of peace
to Afghanistan will contribute to stability in the
entire region. (SIGNED)
NEB/AJ/RAE
28-Dec-1999 10:44 AM EDT (28-Dec-1999 1544 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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