Afghanistan

Afghanistan A Central Asian country that managed to maintain its independence in the nineteenth century largely because of its strategic importance between an expanding Russian Empire and a British Empire keen to preserve its dominance over, and extend its control beyond, the Indian subcontinent. In 1879 Afghanistan was forced to concede nominal British sovereignty, though Britain never exerted much control over its internal affairs, which continued to be dominated by the relationship between its ethnically and religiously heterogeneous social groups.

Formally independent from 1919, King Amanullah introduced a number of reforms designed to introduce Western norms and practices into a traditional, Islamic society. Islamic dress was forbidden in favour of European dress, polygamy abolished, and universal education for men and women introduced. This caused enormous resistance and he was forced to abdicate in 1929. He was succeeded by Nadir Shah and, in 1933, his son Zahir Shah. They reversed many of their predecessor's reforms, and shied away from any attempt at social or economic change.

Zahir Shah entangled his country in tense relations with the newly founded state of Pakistan in 1947, when he claimed the Pathan state from Pakistan. In the tradition of his predecessors, Zahir Shah used the country's geopolitical position to maximum benefit, this time to attract large-scale foreign aid from the Soviet Union and the USA during the Cold War without giving any reciprocal commitments. He ruled with the help of his cousin General Mohammad Daoud as Prime Minister (1953–63), and in 1964 transformed the country into a constitutional monarchy, with the first elections being held in 1965.

On 19 July 1973, when Shah was abroad, Daoud asserted full control, deposed the King, and declared Afghanistan a republic, with himself as President. He nationalized a number of industries, a measure which alienated important sections of the community. He failed to establish a permanent political base, and was deposed on 27 April 1978 by a Communist ‘Armed Forces Revolutionary Council’ (Khalq). Daoud was assassinated and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan proclaimed. The new regime suffered from considerable infighting, until the accession to power of Babrak Kemal in 1979. The failure of Kemal's new regime to establish its authority quickly, and the unpopularity of its Communist, secular reforms, led to the eruption of the tension that had been building up for some time.

Anarchy was subdued by the invasion of the Soviet army in December, at Kemal's request. This gave the diverse groups, ranging from Islamic Fundamentalists, the Mujahidin, tribal factions, and intellectuals, a common enemy. Helped by the country's rugged terrain, and especially by large military aid from Pakistan, Arab states, and, above all, the USA, the oppositional groups managed to sustain the war until the USSR pulled its troops out in 1989. Out of a population of around thirteen million in 1979, one million is estimated to have died in the civil war, with almost five million refugees (around one million within the country, over two million into Pakistan, and over one million into Iran).

Meanwhile, Kemal had already been replaced with the more conciliatory Mohammad Najibulla (b. 1947, d. 1996) in 1987, but he failed to gain the necessary endorsement from the mujahidin, and retired in 1992. The mujahidin's victory over their opponents exposed their own divisions, leading to a state of complete anarchy. In 1993 a new group emerged, the Taliban. Supported by Pakistan, they aimed to erect a theocratic state based on Islamic law. They pushed back the major mujahidin faction, the Northern Alliance, until they controlled four-fifths of the territory in 1999. Although slighted by the international community, the Taliban regime supported itself through the drugs trade, as three-quarters of all opium was harvested in Afghanistan. The Taliban developed close connections to Osama Bin Laden, whose Al-Qaeda network helped support the regime while using Afghanistan as a training ground for terrorist activities in return. Following the September 11 attacks, and the subsequent refusal of the Taliban to extradite Bin Laden, Taliban fighters were attacked by the US from the air. After weeks of bombardment, Taliban rule imploded, and opposition movements took control over the entire country. The US supported a new government headed by Hamid Karzai. Karzai was unable to impose his authority over the regions, which continued to be controlled by opposing warlords. This allowed al-Qaeda and Taliban forces to reestablish their presence in the remote south of the country. Within Kabul, Karzai's authority was protected by a multinational UN force of around 5,000 troops. In January 2004 the tribal grand council approved a constitution which declared Afghanistan an ‘Islamic Republic’.