Afghanistan: Politics and Economics in a Globalising State

189 Pages·2019·3.201 MB·English

by  Niamatullah Ibrahimi, William Maley

AFGHANISTAN
This book offers an overview of the formation of the Afghan state and of the
politics, economic challenges and international relations of contemporary
Afghanistan.
It opens with an account of some of the key features that make Afghanistan
unique and proceeds to discuss how the Afghan state acquired a distinctive char-
acter as a rentier state. In addition, the authors outline a complex range of domes-
tic and external factors that led to the breakdown of the state, and how that
breakdown gave rise to a set of challenges with which Afghan political and social
actors have been struggling to deal since the 2001 international intervention that
overthrew the anti-modernist Taliban regime. It then presents the different types
of politics that Afghanistan has witnessed over the last two decades; examines
some of the most important features of the Afghan economy; and demonstrates
how Afghanistan’s geopolitical location and international relations more broadly
have complicated the task of promoting stability in the post-2001 period. It con-
cludes with some reflections on the factors that are likely to shape Afghanistan’s
future trajectory and notes that if there are hopes for a better future, they largely
rest on the shoulders of a globalised generation of younger Afghans.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of Middle
East and Central Asian studies, international relations, politics, development
studies and history.
Niamatullah Ibrahimi is Associate Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin
Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University, Australia.
William Maley is Professor of Diplomacy at the Asia-Pacific College of
Diplomacy at The Australian National University, Australia.
THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST
Edited by Professor Anoushiravan Ehteshami
Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Durham
For well over a century now the Middle East and North Africa countries have
formed a central plank of the international system. The Contemporary Middle
East Series provides the first systematic attempt at studying the key actors of
this dynamic, complex, and strategically important region. Using an innovative
common format – which in each case study provides an easily-digestible analysis
of the origins of the state, its contemporary politics, economics and international
relations – prominent Middle East experts have been brought together to write
definitive studies of the MENA region’s key countries.
Books in the series
Tunisia: Stability and Reform in Tunisia: From stability to
the Modern Maghreb revolution in the Maghreb
Christopher Alexander 2nd Edition
Christopher Alexander
Libya: Continuity and Change
Ronald Bruce St John The United Arab Emirates:
Power, Politics and
Lebanon: The Politics of Policymaking
a Penetrated Society Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Tom Najem
Iran: Stuck in Transition
Libya: Continuity and Change Anoushiravan Ehteshami
2nd Edition
Ronald Bruce St John Israel
Ilan Pappé
Morocco: Challenges to tradition
and modernity 2nd Edition Afghanistan: Politics and
James N. Sater Economics in a Globalising State
Niamatullah Ibrahimi and William
Maley
For a full list of titles: https://www.routledge.com/middleeaststudies/series/CME
AFGHANISTAN
Politics and Economics
in a Globalising State
Niamatullah Ibrahimi and William Maley
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Niamatullah Ibrahimi and William Maley
The right of Niamatullah Ibrahimi and William Maley to be identified
as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-32063-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-32091-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-45300-7 (ebk)
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On 17 August 2019, one of the authors took part in a conference
at the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University, timed to mark the
100th anniversary of Afghan independence. The majority of the
speakers were young Afghan researchers who presented papers of
outstanding quality, and at the end of the day, the participants
adjourned for a convivial dinner at a nearby restaurant.
On the same evening, in a part of Kabul not far from the university,
families and friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of a young
couple, Mirwais Alani, 25, and Raihana, 18. The wedding invitations
proposed a celebration ‘with a world of hope and desire’. At around
11:40 pm, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive charge in the
midst of the guests, killing 80 and wounding 180. The dead included
14 members of the bride’s family.
Responsibility was claimed by the ‘Islamic State’ terrorist group, in
pursuit of its fanatical hostility to Shiite Muslims. In a heartbreaking
statement, Mirwais said ‘I was supposed to return happy, but within
span of two hours, they devastated my whole life. They devastated
my life within seconds … We had done nothing wrong to anyone,
but our lives were devastated’.
In  today’s Afghanistan, hope and horror  walk side-by-side. We
dedicate this book to the innocent victims of terror in Afghanistan.

CONTENTS
List of illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Chronology x
Map xii
1 Introduction 1
2 State formation 8
3 Politics 47
4 The Afghan economy 88
5 International relations 124
6 Conclusion 159
Bibliography 167
Index 171
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Tables
3.1 Student enrolment, 1955–1972 63
3.2 Recorded number of civilian deaths by parties to the conflict 75
Figure
4.1 Level of opium cultivation in Afghanistan 106
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The generous assistance that we have received over many years from Afghan
and non-Afghan colleagues has greatly aided our understanding of Afghanistan.
It has indeed been so extensive that it would be invidious even to attempt to list
those from whose insights we have benefited. They will know who they are, and
will also know of our deep appreciation for their contributions. We, of course,
remain exclusively responsible for the content of this study.
We particularly wish to acknowledge the support of colleagues at the Alfred
Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University, and at
the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at The Australian National University,
who staunchly supported our work on this book. We would also like to thank
the splendid team at Routledge who commissioned it and then oversaw its
production.
Gul Begum, Hazhir and Shahir Ibrahimi showed great patience towards a
husband and father who was tied to a computer when he could have been doing
other things. And Jean Maley, who died aged 98 in March 2019, was almost
infinitely tolerant of a son who persisted in travelling to parts of the world which
media stereotypes routinely suggested it would have been better to avoid.
Niamatullah Ibrahimi and William Maley
Melbourne and Canberra, September 2019