Gale Group History Behind The Headlines Vol 1 The Origins of Conflicts WorldWide

340 Pages·2021·6.61 MB·English

HISTORY
BEHIND THE
HEADLINES

HISTORY
BEHIND THE
HEADLINES

The Origins of
Conflicts Worldwide

VOLUME 1

Sonia G. Benson, Editor

Editor
Meghan Appel O’Meara

Gale Group Staff
Editorial: Bernard Grunow, Project Editor; Kathy Droste
and Nancy Matuszak, Contributing Editors; Jason Everett,
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i i i

TA B LE O F CO N T EN T S

Contents by Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Advisory Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

About the Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

A
The Afghan Taliban: Emerging
Government Or Civil Rights Tragedy? . . . . . . . . 1
The Taliban has been accused of denying basic human
rights and supporting and harboring terrorists.

(Amazon) Deforestation of the Amazon:
Economics and Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Brazilian government, Brazilian companies, and
multinational organizations are developing the Ama-
zon, potentially threatening the environmental health
of Earth, the Amazon’s long-term economic viability,
and the indigenous people.

B
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Republic of Yugoslavia deteriorated into nation-
alist and ethnic warfare following the break-up of the
Soviet Union.

Brazil: Racism and Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Racial conflict has emerged in Brazil, a country that
prides itself on being free from racism.

C
Chechnya and Russia: A War of Succession . . . . 46
Chechnya’s declaration of independence has caused a
lengthy and bloody war as Russia attempted to prevent
Chechnya from seceding.

The Chiapas Rebellion: Indigenous People’s
Rights in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The indigenous people of Chiapas’ fight for self-
determination in Mexico.

Colombian Drug Wars: Guerrillas,
Paramilitary Groups, and the Government . . . . 70
The lucrative drug trade puts the drug organizations,
the government, and paramilitary groups in conflict.

(Congo-Kinshasa) The Democratic
Republic of Congo: The African World War . . . . 78
Ethnic and civil warfare in Congo has involved many
of the Congo’s neighboring countries.

Cuba and the United States: Revolution,
Nationalism and Enemies Next Door . . . . . . . . 89
Castro’s communist Cuba and the United States con-
tinue a cold war through political maneuverings and
economic embargoes.

E
Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War . . . . . . . . . 103
Disagreement over a small piece of land causes a long
and bloody war.

G
The Gaza Strip and West Bank: Statehood
and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, the
Gaza Strip and West Bank are the territories of the
promised Palestinian state.

German Right Wing Extremism:
Anti-Foreigner Violence in the Country of
the Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1

Increases in right wing violence in Germany—primar-
ily against foreigners—cause tension within Germany
and suspicion outside of the country.

H

Humanitarian Aid: Compassion and
Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Lauded for reducing pain and suffering, humanitarian
organizations have also been charged with prolonging
war and fermenting dissent.

I

Iraq: Economic Sanctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Economic sanctions levied following the Gulf War
have a devastating impact on Iraqis while there is little
evidence of their success against the Iraqi government.

K

Kashmir: War in the Himalayas . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Kashmiris, Indians, and Pakistanis fight over Kashmir’s
proposed independence.

The Kurds in Turkey: The Capture of
Ocalan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
The Kurds, a minority in Turkey, fight an occasion-
ally violent war for independence.

L

Liberia in Civil War: Haven for Freed
Slaves Reduced to Anarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
A long and brutal civil war in Liberia has led to the
virtual destruction of the country.

N

Nagorno-Karabakh: Self-Determination
and Ethnic Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Ethnic and religious differences spur Nagorno-Kara-
bakh’s war of independence from Azerbaijan.

O

Oil: Protectionist Pricing and Fuel
Dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
High oil prices lead to charges that oil-producing
countries are gouging Western nations, which are
greatly dependent on oil.

P

(Pinochet) The Extradition of Chilean
General Augusto Pinochet: Justice Delayed? . . . 204

Spain’s attempted extradition of Pinochet from Eng-
land in 1999 raised, again, the image of the brutal mur-
ders and torture during Pinochet’s reign in Chile.

R

Roma in Eastern Europe: The Wall in the
Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Long-standing prejudice and discrimination endures
against Roma (Gypsies) in Eastern Europe.

Rwanda and Burundi: Culture, History,
Power, and Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
The massacre of five hundred thousand to one million
Tutsis during a brief period in 1994 aroused interna-
tional attention and concern.

S

Serbia and NATO: The 1999 War . . . . . . . . . . 238
During 1999, NATO conducted an extensive bomb-
ing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugo-
slavia (Serbia and Montenegro).

The Soviet Union: Collapse of the USSR
and Formation of Independent Republics . . . . 252
In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union disintegrated,
leading to nationalist and ethnic warfare in some of the
former republics.

Sudan: Slavery and Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
The continuing civil war in Sudan has led to the re-
emergence of slavery.

Syria and Israel: Negotiations for Peace . . . . . 276
Frequently warring Syria and Israel may be slowly mov-
ing toward peace.

T

Taiwan and China: Unification and
Nationalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
China, which has not ruled Taiwan for more than one
hundred years, except briefly after World War II, wants
the power to rule again.

U

U.S. Militant Separatist Movements:
Freedom Fighters or Terrorists? . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Militia movements in the United States have clashed
frequently with federal and local law enforcement.

V

Venezuela: New Military Populism . . . . . . . . . 303
Venezuela, historically a model Latin American
democracy, has elected a populist from the military.

W

The World Trade Organization: The Battle
in Seattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Opposition to globalization and increased world trade
has led to occasionally violent protests.

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

General Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1
v

v i

CO N T EN T S B Y S U B J E C T

ECONOMIC
(Amazon) Deforestation of the Amazon:
Economics and Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Brazil: Racism and Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Chiapas Rebellion: Indigenous People’s
Rights in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Cuba and the United States: Revolution,
Nationalism and Enemies Next Door . . . . . . . . 89
Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War . . . . . . . . . . 103
German Right Wing Extremism: Anti-
Foreigner Violence in the Country of the
Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Iraq: Economic Sanctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
The Kurds in Turkey: The Capture of
Ocalan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Liberia in Civil War: Haven for Freed
Slaves Reduced to Anarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Nagorno-Karabakh: Self-Determination
and Ethnic Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Oil: Protectionist Pricing and Fuel
Dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Serbia and NATO: The 1999 War . . . . . . . . . . 238
The Soviet Union: Collapse of the USSR
and Formation of Independent Republics . . . . 252
Sudan: Slavery and Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Syria and Israel: Negotiations for Peace . . . . . 276
Taiwan and China: Unification and
Nationalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
U.S. Militant Separatist Movements:
Freedom Fighters or Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Venezuela: New Military Populism . . . . . . . . . 303
The World Trade Organization: The
Battle in Seattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

ENVIRONMENTAL
(Amazon) Deforestation of the Amazon:
Economics and Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

ETHNIC
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chechnya and Russia: A War of Succession . . . . 46
(Congo-Kinshasa) The Democratic
Republic of Congo: The African World War . . . . 78
Nagorno-Karabakh: Self-Determination
and Ethnic Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Roma in Eastern Europe: The Wall in the
Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Rwanda and Burundi: Culture, History,
Power, and Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Serbia and NATO: The 1999 War . . . . . . . . . . 238
The Soviet Union: Collapse of the USSR
and Formation of Independent Republics . . . . 252

POLITICAL
Chechnya and Russia: A War of Succession . . . . 46
The Chiapas Rebellion: Indigenous People’s
Rights in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Colombian Drug Wars: Guerrillas,
Paramilitary Groups, and the Government . . . . 70
(Congo-Kinshasa) The Democratic
Republic of Congo: The African World War . . . . 78
Cuba and the United States: Revolution,
Nationalism and Enemies Next Door . . . . . . . . 89
The Gaza Strip and West Bank: Statehood
and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

German Right Wing Extremism: Anti-
Foreigner Violence in the Country of the
Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Humanitarian Aid: Compassion and
Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Iraq: Economic Sanctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
The Kurds in Turkey: The Capture of
Ocalan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Liberia in Civil War: Haven for Freed
Slaves Reduced to Anarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Nagorno-Karabakh: Self-Determination
and Ethnic Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
The Extradition of Chilean General
Augusto Pinochet: Justice Delayed? . . . . . . . . . 204
Roma in Eastern Europe: The Wall in the
Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Rwanda and Burundi: Culture, History,
Power, and Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Serbia and NATO: The 1999 War . . . . . . . . . . 238
Syria and Israel: Negotiations for Peace . . . . . 276
Taiwan and China: Unification and
Nationalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
U.S. Militant Separatist Movements:
Freedom Fighters or Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Venezuela: New Military Populism . . . . . . . . . 303
The World Trade Organization: The
Battle in Seattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

RACIAL
Brazil: Racism and Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

German Right Wing Extremism: Anti-
Foreigner Violence in the Country of the
Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
U.S. Militant Separatist Movements:
Freedom Fighters or Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

RELIGIOUS
The Afghan Taliban: Emerging
Government Or Civil Rights Tragedy? . . . . . . . . 1
Kashmir: War in the Himalayas . . . . . . . . . . . 151
The Kurds in Turkey: The Capture of
Ocalan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Roma in Eastern Europe: The Wall in the
Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Sudan: Slavery and Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Syria and Israel: Negotiations for Peace . . . . . 276
U.S. Militant Separatist Movements:
Freedom Fighters or Terrorists . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

TERRITORIAL
Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Gaza Strip and West Bank: Statehood
and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Iraq: Economic Sanctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
The Soviet Union: Collapse of the USSR
and Formation of Independent Republics . . . . 252
Syria and Israel: Negotiations for Peace . . . . . 276

C O N T E N T S B Y S U B J E C T

H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1
v i i

v i i i

A DV I S O RY B OA R D

Jerry H. Bentley is professor of history at the
University of Hawaii and editor of the Journal
of World History. His research on the religious,
moral, and political writings of Renaissance hu-
manists led to the publication of Humanists and
Holy Writ: New Testament Scholarship in the
Renaissance and Politics and Culture in Renais-
sance Naples. More recently, his research has
concentrated on global history and particularly
on processes of cross-cultural interaction. His
book Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural
Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times
examines processes of cultural exchange and re-
ligious conversion before the modern era, and
his pamphlet “Shapes of World History in
Twentieth-Century Scholarship” discusses the
historiography of world history. His current in-
terests include processes of cross-cultural inter-
action and cultural exchanges in modern times.

Ken Berger received his B.A. in East Asian Studies
at Eckerd College and his M.A. in Asian
Studies and M.S.L.S. from Florida State
University. He has been a librarian at Duke
University since 1977, with almost all of his
time spent as a reference librarian and bibli-
ographer, including the last several years as
head of reference. He is currently the Project
Manager for the Library Service Center. He
has written hundreds of reviews in East Asian
studies, military affairs and history, and library
and information science.

Frank J. Coppa is Professor of History at St.
John’s University, Director of their doctoral
program, and Chair of the University’s Vati-
can Symposium. He is also an Associate in
the Columbia University Seminar on Modern
Italy, and editor of the Lang Series on Studies

on Modern Europe. He has published bi-
ographies on a series of European figures,
written and edited more than twelve volumes,
as well as publishing in a series of journals in-
cluding the Journal of Modern History and the
Journal of Economic History, among others. He
is editor of the Dictionary of Modern Italian
History and the Encyclopedia of the Vatican and
Papacy.

Bill Gaudelli received his Ed.D. in Social Studies
Education from Rutgers University in 2000.
He dissertation was on “Approaches to Global
Education.” He teaches at Hunterdon Central
Regional High School (winner of the National
Council for the Social Studies Programs of
Excellence Award) and Teachers College-
Columbia University. Publications include
“Teaching Human Rights through Conflict-
Resolution” in Social Science and “Global Edu-
cation: a Viable Framework for an Issues-
Centered Curriculum” in ERIC Documents. He
is a member of the National Council for Social
Studies and the American Forum for Global
Education.

Paul Gootenberg is a Professor of Latin American
History at SUNY-Stony Brook. A graduate of
the University of Chicago and Oxford, he spe-
cializes in the economic, social, and intellec-
tual history of the Andes and Mexico, and
more recently, the global history of drugs. He
has published Between Silver and Guano
(1989), Imagining Development (1993) and
Cocaine: Global Histories (1999). Gootenberg
has held many fellowships; they include
Fulbright,
SSRC,
ACLS,
Institute
for
Advanced Study, Russell Sage Foundation, the
Rhodes Scholarship, and a Guggenheim. He

lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife,
Laura Sainz, and son, Danyal Natan.

Margaret Hallisey is a practicing high school li-
brary media specialist in Burlington, Mas-
sachusetts. She is a graduate of Regis College
with a B.A. in English and of Simmons
College with a M.S. in Library and Informa-
tion Science. A member of Beta Phi Mu, the
International Library Science Honor Society,
she serves on the executive Boards of the
American Association of School Librarians
(AASL), the Massachusetts School Library
Media Association (MSLMA) and the New
England Educational Media Association
(NEEMA).

Patricia H. Hodgson is the District Librarian for
the Aspen School District, in Aspen, Colo-
rado. She is a member of the American Library
Association, the American Association for
School Librarians, and the World History
Association. She received her M.L.M. from
the University of Colorado at Denver.

Donna Maier has been with the Department of
History at the University of Northern Iowa
since 1986. Her research interests are in nine-
teenth century Asante (Ghana), African Islam,
and traditional African medicine. Her exten-
sive lists of publications include “The Military
Acquisition of Slaves in Asante,” in West
African Economic and Social History, The Cloths
of Many-Colored Silks (1996), and History and

Life, the World and Its Peoples (1977-90, with
Wallbank and Shrier). She is a member of the
African Studies Association and the Ghana
Studies Council.

Linda Karen Miller, Ph.D., teaches American
government, world history and geography at
Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia. A
twenty-nine year veteran, she has received sev-
eral national and state teaching awards such as
the National Council for the Social Studies
Secondary Teacher of the Year in 1996, the
Organization of American Historian Pre-
Collegiate Teacher of the Year in 1996, the
Excellence in Teaching Award from the
University of Kansas and the University of
Virginia, and the Global Education Award
from the National Peace Corps Association.
She has traveled to Russia and Armenia under
grants sponsored by the U.S. Department of
State. She has published several lesson plans
and articles for PBS and, most recently, Turner
Learning’s “Millennium 1000 Years of His-
tory.” She also serves as a consultant to News-
week magazine and the Wall Street Journal
Classroom Edition, as well as the GED test-
ing service.

Philip Yockey is Social Sciences Bibliographer and
Assistant Chief Librarian for Staff Training
and Development at the Humanities and
Social Sciences Library at The New York Pub-
lic Library.

A D V I S O R Y B O A R D

H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1
i x

x

A B O U T T H E S ER I E S

I
n 1991 the world witnessed a political change of
great magnitude. The Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) crumbled, ushering in a new era
of democracy and the official end of the Cold War.
East and West Germany had reunited just two
years earlier; for many people formerly behind the
Iron Curtain, now seemed to be a time of unbound
freedom and autonomy. Yet ten years later, news-
casts and newspapers report of a six year war be-
tween Russia and Chechnya, a former state within
the USSR. After so much optimism about the fu-
ture, what caused this instability and unrest? Was
the cause based in a fundamental flaw of the ini-
tial break-up of the USSR or perhaps from some-
thing much further back in the regions’ histories?
How did the international community react to the
USSR’s collapse and the strife that was to follow?

History Behind the Headlines (HBH), a new, on-
going series from the Gale Group, strives to an-
swer these and many other questions in a way that
television broadcasts and newspapers cannot. In or-
der to keep reports both simple and short, it is dif-
ficult for these media to give the watcher or reader
enough background information to fully under-
stand what is happening around the world today.
HBH provides just that background, giving the
general public, student, and teacher an explication

of each contemporary conflict from its start to its
present and even its future. This thoroughness is
accomplished not just by the in-depth material cov-
ered in the main body of each essay, but also by ac-
companying chronologies, textual and biographical
sidebars, maps, and bibliographic sources.

Not only does HBH provide comprehensive
information on all of the conflicts it covers, it also
strives to present its readers an unbiased and in-
clusive perspective. Each essay, written by an ex-
pert with a detailed knowledge of the conflict at
hand, avoids taking any particular side and instead
seeks to explain each vantage point. Unlike televi-
sion and newpaper reports, which may only have
the time, space or even inclination to show one
side of a story, HBH essays equally detail all sides
involved.

Given the number of conflicts that beg such
explication as HBH provides, an advisory board of
school and library experts helps to guide the selec-
tion process and narrow down the selection for each
volume. They balance the topic lists, making sure
that a proper mix of economic, political, ethnic and
geographically diverse conflicts are chosen. Two
volumes, each written in an accessible, informative
way, will be released each year.

x i

P R EFAC E

Selection and Arrangement
T
his volume of History Behind the Headlines cov-
ers thirty conflicts—including ethnic, reli-
gious, economic, political, territorial, and environ-
mental conflicts. The topics were chosen following
an extensive review of the conflicts covered in news-
papers, magazines, and on television. A large num-
ber of potential conflicts were identified. Advisors—
including academic experts, high school social study
teachers, and librarians—prioritized the list, identi-
fying those conflicts that generate the most ques-
tions. Topics were then selected to provide a re-
gional balance and to cover various types of conflicts.

The conflicts covered are complex. Each essay
discusses multiple aspects of the conflict, including
economic and social aspects to religious conflicts,
the interests of other countries, international orga-
nizations, and businesses, and the international im-
plications of the conflict. The entries are arranged
alphabetically by a major country, region, organi-
zation, or person in the conflict. Where this might
not be clear in the table of contents, the keyword
is placed in parentheses in front of the title.

Content
Each essay begins with a brief summary of the
current situations as well as some of the major fac-
tors in the conflict. Each essay contains the fol-
lowing sections:

•
Summary of the headline event. An overview
of the contemporary conflict that has brought
the issue to public attention. For example, the
arrest and conviction of Ocalan by Turkey in
1999 or the battle over Elian Gonzalez.

•
Historical Background.
The
“Historical
Background” is the heart of the essay. The au-
thor provides the historical context to the con-

temporary conflict, summarizing the arc of the
conflict through history. Each essay tells the
“story” of the conflict, capturing important
events, transfers of power, interventions,
treaties, and more. The author summarizes the
changes in the conflict over time, describes the
role of major figures, whether individuals, po-
litical organizations, or religious organizations,
and provides an overview of their positions now
and in the past. Where appropriate the author
may draw comparisons with similar situations
in the country or region in the past. In addi-
tion, the author often attempts to put the con-
flict in the context of global politics and to de-
scribe the impact of the conflict on people
around the world. Finally, the author may
touch on how historians’ understanding of the
conflict has changed over time.

•
Recent History and the Future. The final sec-
tion brings the conflict up-to-date, and may
offer some projections for future resolution.

Each essay is followed by a brief bibliography
that offers some suggestions of resources for fur-
ther research. In addition, brief biographies may
accompany the essay, profiling major figures. Side-
bars may provide statistical information, a quote
from a speech, a selection from a primary source
document (such as a treaty), a selection from a book
or newspaper article that adds to the understand-
ing of the conflict, or may explore an issue in greater
depth (such as the Armenian Genocide in Turkey
during World War I or the nature of control of the
media during the Chechen war). Images may also
accompany the essay, including one or more maps
showing the area of conflict.

A selected bibliography providing suggestions
for background information and research on the

P R E F A C E

x i i
H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1

nature of conflicts and a comprehensive index ap-
pear at the back of each volume.

History is to be Read Critically
Each of the talented writers (mostly academic
authorities) in this volume strived to provide an
objective and comprehensive overview of the con-
flict and its historical context. The nature of con-
temporary conflict, however, makes it difficult to
wholly accomplish this objective. Contemporary
history and, in fact, all history—should be read
critically.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks for their help to the excellent ad-
visors who guided this project—their attention and
feedback was greatly appreciated. Many thanks,

also, to the thoughtful and dedicated writers, who
lent their expertise to help others understand the
complex history behind sound bites on the news.
Thanks to Bernard Grunow and the team at the
Gale Group that made the manuscript a book. Fi-
nally, thanks to my family and friends—especially
B.B. Sela—for their support and encouragement.

Comments on this volume and suggestions for
future volumes are welcomed. Please direct all cor-
respondence to:

Editor, History Behind the Headlines
Gale Group
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
[phone]

I
n 1996 a radical Muslim sect known as the
Taliban successfully captured Afghanistan’s cap-
ital city of Kabul. With this victory, Taliban
gained control of three quarters of the nation.
Taliban leaders immediately imposed a strict
interpretation of Islamic law on the citizens of
Afghanistan, requiring women to wear full length
veils and men to grow beards, and imposing severe
penalties for most crimes. As a result of the
Taliban’s actions, Afghanistan was thrust into the
international spotlight.

In February 2000 an Afghan Ariana Airlines
Boeing 727 was hijacked by Afghan citizens. The
flight from Kabul, the Afghan capital, to
Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of the Balkh province
of Afghanistan (located in the north central part of
the nation) was supposed to fly several families to
a wedding. The plane never arrived. Shortly after
takeoff, six to ten of the passengers armed them-
selves and demanded that the flight crew fly them
out of Afghanistan. The flight finally arrived in
London on Monday, February 9, 2000, one day
after departure from Kabul.

Upon arrival at London’s Stansted Airport
early Monday morning, the hijackers released a few
hostages, primarily those with medical conditions.
However, it soon became clear that this was not a
simple terrorist act, as those who left the plane
described several passengers not associated with the
hijackers “many of the women and children—
laughed, tossed aside their veils and received the
choicest food and drink from their captors.” It
appeared that this hijacking was an effort by a
group of Afghan families to escape the oppressive
Taliban regime. Once the British government
negotiated a peaceful settlement with the hijackers,
this suspicion seemed to have been confirmed.

1

T H E A F G H A N TA LI BA N:
EM ERG I N G G OV ER N M EN T O R

C I V I L R I G H T S T R AG EDY?

THE CONFLICT

From 1978 to 1992, the Afghanistan government was
Communist and closely allied with the Soviet Union. The
United States funded and armed rebels fighting the
Communists—the mujadin. The mujadin were Islamic funda-
mentalists, and when the Soviet Union withdrew and the
Afghani government fell, the mujadin established strict
Islamic law, shari’a.

Religious
•
The Taliban, leaders of the organization ruling much of
Afghanistan, believe in strict Islamic law.

Political
•
Many people around the world believe the regime is
denying its citizens their basic human rights.

•
Western nations have charged that Afghanistan harbors
and supports terrorists.

•
The Taliban believes the U.S. betrayed it by ending
funding and support after the end of the Cold War.

The Taliban swiftly sent another airliner to
collect their wayward citizens. By Thursday,
February 11, seventy-four had requested asylum in
England, twenty-one had been arrested for the
hijacking (the original six to ten, plus an addition-
al number implicated as co-conspirators), and the
remainder (roughly seventy men and women)
chose to return home to Afghanistan. Despite the
negative publicity of the hijacking, Taliban offi-
cials still separated the men and women from each
other as they left the plane in Kabul, as required
by Islamic law (CNN.com, February 14, 2000,
AsiaNow site).

T H E A F G H A N T A L I B A N : E M E R G I N G G O V E R N M E N T O R C I V I L R I G H T S T R A G E D Y ?

2
H I S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E H E A D L I N E S , V O L U M E 1

CHRONOLOGY

1933–73 King Mohammed Zahir Shah attempts to mod-
ernize and Westernize Afghanistan.

1973 Zahir’s cousin Daud, stages a coup and declares him-
self leader of the “Republic of Afghanistan.” He relies
on Communist supporters to come to power.

1978 Communists take control of the Afghan government
and are closely allied with the Soviet Union. The new
government fights a civil war against several groups of
mujadin.

1979 Soviet troops invade Afghanistan.

1989 The Soviet Union withdraws its troops from Afghan-
istan in defeat.

1992–96 Civil war breaks out among the different factions
of mujadin.

1993 The Rabbani regime comes to power.

1996 The Taliban moves to capture all of Afghanistan.

1997 The Taliban captures Kabul, the capitol of Afghan-
istan.

1998 The Taliban declines to turn suspected terrorist
Osama bin Laden over to the United States.

1999 The Taliban controls more than ninety percent of
Afghanistan. The United States and the United Nations
still deal with Rabbani’s group.

2000 Afghan Ariana Airlines Boeing 727 is hijacked in what
appears to be a bid for asylum.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Geography and History
Afghanistan is a small south Asian nation of
250,000 square miles. It is slightly smaller than
Texas, which is 261,914 square miles. Afghanistan
shares borders with Pakistan to the east, Iran to
the southwest, Turkmenistan to the northwest,
and Uzbekistan and Tajikstan to the north. Only
about 12 percent of Afghanistan’s land is suitable
for cultivation, and of that 12 percent, almost 50
percent is dedicated to farming or livestock.
Afghanistan has a population of almost twenty-six
million people—it is almost twice as populous as
Texas (population 17,655,650 in 1992), but small-
er than California (population 30,866,851 in
1992).

Only about twenty-five percent of Afghans
have electricity; for the last twenty years, city ser-
vices have often been interrupted by war among
the various ethnic and religious factions in
Afghanistan. Because of the continued conflict,
the average Afghan’s life expectancy is forty-seven
years. In contrast, the average life expectancy for
an American is seventy-six years.

The majority of Afghans work on small sub-
sistence farms. Inflation is currently at about 240
percent (roughly one hundred times that of the
United States), although it cannot be accurately de-
termined. The few industries that exist in Afghan-
istan are textiles and soap manufacturers, and, to a
lesser degree, woven rugs and oil drilling.

The people of Afghanistan represent several
distinct ethnic groups. The Pashtun are the largest
group, representing about thirty-three percent of
the population. Tajiks and Uzbekis comprise
about thirty percent of the rest of the population,
with Hazaris totaling another twenty percent. The
remaining fifteen percent or so are of various eth-
nic backgrounds. The people of Afghanistan also
speak several unique languages and dialects.
Persian represents the most widely used language
in Afghanistan, followed by Pashtu.

The majority of Afghans follow the Muslim
faith. Islam has two major branches of faith, the
Shiite and the Sunni. The Shiite believe that lead-
ership of the Islamic community follows a dynastic
succession from Imam Ali (a cousin of the prophet
Muhammed) and his children. The Shiite of
Afghanistan live in the central provinces and were
the first to fight against the Soviets. Shiite follow-
ers comprise only about fifteen percent of
Afghanistan’s Muslim community. The Sunni
branch of the Islam faith comprise about eighty-