The War for Afghanistan: A Very Brief History: From "Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History" : From "Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History"

Main description: When it invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the United States sought to do something previous foreign powers had never attempted: to create an Afghani state where none existed. More than a decade on, the new regime in Kabul remains plagued by illegitimacy and ineffectiveness. What happened? As Thomas Barfield shows, the history of previous efforts to build governments in Afghanistan does much to explain the difficulties besetting this newest experiment. Princeton Shorts are brief selections taken from influential Princeton University Press books and produced exclusively in ebook format. Providing unmatched insight into important contemporary issues or timeless passages from classic works of the past, Princeton Shorts enable you to be an instant expert in a world where information is everywhere but quality is at a premium. This Work Traces The Historic Struggles And The Changing Nature Of Political Authority In This Volatile Region Of The World, From The Mughal Empire In The Sixteenth Century To The Taliban Resurgence Today. The Author Introduces Readers To The Bewildering Diversity Of Tribal And Ethnic Groups In Afghanistan, Explaining What Unites Them As Afghans Despite The Regional, Cultural, And Political Differences That Divide Them. He Shows How Governing These Peoples Was Relatively Easy When Power Was Concentrated In A Small Dynastic Elite, But How This Delicate Political Order Broke Down In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries When Afghanistan's Rulers Mobilized Rural Militias To Expel First The British And Later The Soviets. Armed Insurgency Proved Remarkably Successful Against The Foreign Occupiers, But It Also Undermined The Afghan Government's Authority And Rendered The Country Ever More Difficult To Govern As Time Passed. He Describes How Afghanistan's Armed Factions Plunged The Country Into A Civil War, Giving Rise To Clerical Rule By The Taliban And Afghanistan's Isolation From The World. He Examines Why The American Invasion In The Wake Of September 11 Toppled The Taliban So Quickly, And How This Easy Victory Lulled The United States Into Falsely Believing That A Viable State Could Be Built Just As Easily. This Book Helps The Reader Understand How A Land Conquered And Ruled By Foreign Dynasties For More Than A Thousand Years Became The Graveyard Of Empires For The British And Soviets, And What The United States Must Do To Avoid A Similar Fate. People And Places -- Conquering And Ruling Pre-modern Afghanistan -- Anglo-afghan Wars And State Building In Afghanistan -- Afghanistan In The Twentieth Century : State And Society In Conflict -- Afghanistan Enters The Twenty-first Century -- Some Conclusions. Thomas Barfield. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A major history of Afghanistan and its changing political cultureAfghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. Thomas Barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. Barfield vividly describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. He examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily.Afghanistan is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the'graveyard of empires'for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. Thomas Barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. Barfield vividly describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. He examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. Afghanistan is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the graveyard of empires for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate. Biographical note: BarfieldThomas: Thomas Barfield is professor of anthropology at Boston University. His books include "The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757; The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan;" and "Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture".