Synopses & Reviews
Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and
black-turbaned fundamentalists, Larry Goodson combines Taliban interviews and
field research with concise analysis to explain what has been happening in Afghanistan
in the last twenty years, and why the future of Afghanistan matters.
As it has been through the ages, Afghanistan remains the vital crossroads
connecting Central, South, and Southwest Asia. It is the linchpin to trade in the
potentially oil-rich new states of Central Asia. The Taliban's role in exporting
political Islamism adds fuel to an already incendiary situation in the region. All of
Afghanistan's neighbors - Pakistan, Iran, India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, even Turkey and China, along with the United States
- jockey to manipulate its internal affairs in their own interests.
Illuminating the myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical
fault lines, Goodson examines the devastating course of the Afghan war. He charts
its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than two million
Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete
collapse of Afghanistan's economy, which today has been replaced by
monoculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban now uneasily
control roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves show increasing discord
along ethnic and political lines.
Can Afghanistan reemerge from its long war and be rebuilt as a stable
nation-state?. Just as Afghanistan's neighbors and the United States helped to
prolong its war, they now hold the key to its future peace and stability. While
Goodson offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the most likely
scenarios, only one thing is certain: what happens in Afghanistan will continue to
affect stability and security in an increasingly important region of the post-Cold
War world.
Synopsis
Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and black-turbaned Taliban fundamentalists, Larry Goodson explains in this concise analysis of the Afghan war what has really been happening in Afghanistan in the last twenty years.
Beginning with the reasons behind Afghanistan's inability to forge a strong state -- its myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical fault lines -- Goodson then examines the devastating course of the war itself. He charts its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than 2 million Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of its economy, which today has been replaced by monoagriculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban, some of whose leaders Goodson interviewed as recently as 1997, have controlled roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves have shown increasing discord along ethnic and political lines.