Modern Afghanistan

Product Description

The treacherous mountain passes & blasted desert plains of Afghanistan have been the graveyard of every would-be conquering army since the days of Alexander the Great. With America, Britain & NATO committed to a long-term political & military engagement there, it is imperative to understand the country`s complex & bloody history. Afghanistan emerged in the mid-eighteenth century from the collapse of the Persian Safavid Empire & the decline of the Mughal dynasty in India. The nineteenth century saw the country ravaged by the rivalry of warring elites, & their great power supporters. In recent times, Afghanistan has experienced the Soviet invasion of 1979, the Pakistan-backed internal conflict of the 1990s, the Taliban regime & then the US invasion after the catastrophe of 9/11. Today, whilst the US-backed government is struggling to expand its control beyond Kabul, narco-warlords, jihadists & Western troops fight out the battle for control of this strategically vital country. Why has Afghanistan`s course of development been so turbulent? Why does it remain so vulnerable to domestic instability, foreign intervention & ideological extremism? In reconstructing the tempestuous narrative of modern Afghanistan, Amin Saikal provides a sweeping new understanding of its troubled past. He identifies the country`s inability to develop stable political structures as stemming from the inter-dynastic rivalry (exacerbated by polygamy) that scarred successive royal families from the end of the eighteenth century until the pro-Communist coup of April 1978. Outside interventions further weakened the country internally, preventing socio-economic development & leaving the country ripe for the politics of ideological extremism. ” Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle & Survival” is the definitive study of Afghanistan & its troubles. It will be vital reading for all those who are interested in the changing politics of the Middle East & Central Asia.