The March of folly in Afghanistan, 1978-2001
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The March of folly in Afghanistan, 1978-2001
Manohar, 2002
Available at 5 libraries
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Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto Universityグローバル専攻
COE-SA||227.1||Meh||0205727802057278
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Library, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization図
MEAF||327.5||M114696496
Note
Bibliography: p. [223]-224
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The assassination of President Daud and the proclamation of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1978 may well mark the beginning of the era of twenty-first century international terrorism. Rational alternatives were rejected independently but formed a reinforcing quadrilateral of misperceptions by the USSR, USA, India and Pakistan. It led to the remilitarization of the subcontinent and the assembling by CIA of Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan. India stood marginalized. When the Soviet forces finally withdrew in 1989, the United States callously abandoned the country to civil war and desolation. Pakistan then recruited the Talibans and helped overrun Afghanistan and in its wake, imposed a medieval religious polity. Some of these imported jehadis also planned the WTC attack of 9/11. Jagat S Mehta was Foreign Secretary when the crisis erupted. He reveals in this book how through prophylactic diplomacy he sought to prevent the adverse fallout on the subcontinent. The reprint of sixteen papers written between 1981 and 1997 demonstrate his persistent anxiety; they also contain a reasoned outline for the return of Afghanistan to its Non-aligned personality.
Mehta did not anticipate 9/11 but in the chapter written after the attack, he analyses the multi-faceted dimensions of terror. The United States has to play the leadership role but it has to be principled not parochial. Afghanistan remains a geographical extension of South Asia and this means both India and Pakistan have the highest stake in its rehabilitation and viability; both must first adjust to the logic of harmony and functional cooperation with each other. The book in the end looks at how India betrayed itself in what may be the gravest foreign policy mistake and also how US and Pakistan are suffering the blow-back of their earlier miscalculations. Afghanistan has been truly a Long March of Folly.
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