Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and SurvivalAmin Saikal provides a new approach to understanding a region which is now at the center of international attention. Pushed to the forefront of world politics by the Soviet invasion of 1979, followed by murderous civil war in the 1980s, and then the establishment of the Taliban regime that resulted in American intervention following the catastrophe of September 11th, Afghanistan's history is a sorry one. Saikal seeks to answer why Afghanistan's course of development has been so turbulent and why it remains so vulnerable to domestic instability, foreign intervention and ideological extremism. He argues that this was largely due to rivalries stemming from a series of dynastic alliances within the successive royal families from the end of the eighteenth century to the pro-Communist coup of April 1978. Afghanistan: Tribal Nation is an important book that serves the needs of growing numbers of people who seek to understand the history and political heritage of this troubled country. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
From Tribal Confederacy to National Coalescence | 17 |
National Awakening and Nationalism | 40 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival Amin Saikal,A. G. Ravan Farhadi,Kirill Nourzhanov No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Abdul Abdur Rahman achieve Adamec Afghan Afghan politics Afghanistan's Foreign Ahmad Shah Amanullah Amin Amir Habibullah army Asian border British India brothers Bukhara Central Asia communist Constitution coup Daoud diplomatic domestic Dost Mohammad Duprée Durand Line Durrani economic elite ethnic forces foreign policy Ghilzai groups Habibullah Kalakani Hekmatyar ideological independence influence initially invasion Iran Islamic Istoriia Kabul Kandahar Karmal Khalq Khan King Korgun leaders leadership London Mahmud Tarzi Maiwandwal Massoud microsocieties military Modern Afghanistan modernisation Mohammad Nadir Mohammadzai monarch Moscow Mujahideen Musahiban Muslim Nadir Shah Naim nationalist Nauka officers organisation Pakistan Parchamis party Pashtun Pashtunistan PDPA Peshawar position Poullada Prime Minister Rabbani reforms regime regional relations religious rivalry role royal family rule ruler Russian Sadozai Saikal Shah Mahmud Shah's social Soviet Union Tajik Taliban Taraki Tarzi territory throne traditional Treaty tribal tribes University Press USSR Wali Young Afghans Zahir Shah