Modern Afghanistan : a history of struggle and survival

Bibliographic Information

Modern Afghanistan : a history of struggle and survival

Amin Saikal ; with assistance from Ravan Farhadi and Kirill Nourzhanov

I.B. Tauris, 2012

New rev. paperback ed., New updated ed

  • : pbk

Available at  / 2 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

First published in hardback in 2004 by I.B. Tauris & Co. LTD; first published in paperback in 2006 by I.B. Tauris & Co. LTD

Includes bibliographical references (p. [361]-380) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Afghanistan's recent history is a sad one: Soviet invasion in 1979; Pakistan-backed internal conflict in the 1980s; the Taliban regime; and then the US invasion and the multi-national occupation after the events of 11 September 2001. Why does Afghanistan remain so vulnerable to domestic instability, foreign intervention and ideological extremism? In reconstructing the tempestuous narrative of modern Afghanistan, Amin Saikal provides a sweeping new understanding of its troubled past and present. He identifies the country's inability to develop stable political structures as stemming from the inter-dynastic rivalry (complicated by polygamy) that scarred successive royal families from the end of the eighteenth century until the pro-Soviet Communist coup of April 1978, all exacerbated by foreign interventions - feeding on fragile domestic structures - and the rise and fall of different ideological streams. Here, for the first time, is an up-to-date analysis of the era of the Taliban's rule, the effects of US domination in the country and attempts to negotiate a US withdrawal - including talks about talks with the Taliban themselves. This book, which sets the crisis of Afghanistan in the context of the country's modern history and social structures, makes a major and highly original contribution towards a better and more nuanced understanding of this ill-fated land. It is the definitive study of Afghanistan and its troubles in national, regional and international contexts from 1747 to the present day.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1 From Tribal Confederacy to National Coalescence Chapter 2 National Awakening and Nationalism Chapter 3 Independence and Radical Modernisation Chapter 4 The Nadiri Dynasty: Politics of National Gradualism and 'Royal Dualism' Chapter 5 The Cold War and the Rise of a Rentier State Chapter 6 Experiment with Democracy, 1963-1973 Chapter 7 Daoud's Republicanism Chapter 8 Communist Rule, the Soviet Invasion and Resistance Chapter 9 Mujahideen Islamic Rule and Taliban Extremism Chapter 10 US Intervention and the Karzai era Conclusion

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top