Afghanistan

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan

• Independent since 19th century
• Close cultural and trade ties with region

• Central Asian Countries

• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Part of USSR from 1921 to 1991
• Prior to Soviet period, more closely tied to south and west due to Islamic heritage

Three major regions dominate.

• Three major regions dominate.

• Mountains
• Steppe
• Desert

Hindu Kush–in Afghanistan

• Hindu Kush–in Afghanistan

• Pamirs–in Tajikistan and Afghanistan

• Fan–Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

• Tien Shan–Kyrgyzstan

• Majority of population lives in river valleys, foothills, or meadows at mountain bases.

Dominates much of Kazakhstan

• Dominates much of Kazakhstan

• Low levels and variability of precipitation makes agriculture difficult.

Largest portion of region

• Largest portion of region

• Arid

• Prominent deserts

• Kyzl Kum Desert–East of Aral Sea in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
• Kara Kum Desert–in Turkmenistan

• Registan and Dasht-i Margo–in western Afghanistan

Caspian Sea–92 feet below sea level

• Caspian Sea–92 feet below sea level

• Syr Darya and Amu Darya Rivers–Feeds Kyzl Kum and Kara Kum Deserts

• Zerafshan River

• Flows from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan
• Dissapears in the Kyzl Kum Desert

• Afghanistan rivers

• Harirud
• Helmand
• Kabul
• Kunduz

Two major groups dominate.

• Two major groups dominate.

• Turkic ethnic groups
• Persian ethnic groups

• Area of the Silk Road

• 19th century–Became pawns between Great Britain and Russia (the “Great Game”)

• Wakhan Corridor
• Area separating Afghanistan from China
• Separated Great Britain and Russia in 19th-century Afghanistan

Three major influences

• Three major influences

• Centralization
• Dominated by Moscow
• Politically, economically, and socially
• Command economy
• Collectivization
• All lands, goods, and equipment appropriated by the government
• Consolidation of farms into large farms (collectives)
• Farmers paid stipends or in produce from farm
• Russification
• Control of culture
• Emphasis on the Russian language

In 1940 the U.S.S.R. began to construct canals to divert water from the rivers that fed the Aral Sea to grow rice, melons, and cotton in a desert area

• In 1940 the U.S.S.R. began to construct canals to divert water from the rivers that fed the Aral Sea to grow rice, melons, and cotton in a desert area

• Cotton production increased

• Fishing industry was destroyed as Aral Sea shrank by 60% in surface area and by 80% in volume.

Dense settlement in arable land areas

• Dense settlement in arable land areas

• Dominated by USSR

• Typical colonial mentality

• Islam

• Limited industry

• Some demographics suggest certain Soviet influences.

• Literacy rates
• Infrastructure development
• Universal health and child care
• Jobs

• Post-Soviet period–New emphasis on local ethnicity

Culturally different from Russia

• Culturally different from Russia

• Czarist administration and Soviets saw area as a peripheral, undeveloped area.

• Soviets sought efforts to exploit their resources, modernize their people, and bring their economy into line with the rest of the sprawling area, marking an uneven approach to development.

• Still some dependence with Russia (i.e., pipelines, energy)

• Development of trade avenues (Turkey attempted to step into breach)

• Opium drug trade (valuable for warlords; military financing)

What parts of Central Asia were “intrinsically Russian”?

• What parts of Central Asia were “intrinsically Russian”?

• In the wake of independence, some countries of the USSR stayed closer, whereas others did not.

• Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan–Broke away completely

• Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan–Sought to integrate the Soviet past with an often, government-controlled sense of ethnic sensibility

• Some of these countries retained the Russian language (forced by Stalin).

Religious fever pitch in 1930s; receded during World War II

• Religious fever pitch in 1930s; receded during World War II

• Processes of secularism and russification sought to marginalize Islam in these countries.

• Religion (especially Islam) became personal–practiced at home.

• Reactions to secular communism not restricted to this area.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• The Caucasus

British and Russian struggle for control during the Great Game

• British and Russian struggle for control during the Great Game

• North and West–Allied with Iran and Central Asia

• East–Allied with India

• Attempts at economic liberalization in 1960s and 1970s

• Communist coup in 1978

• Now routed in USSR control
• Spawned resistance–mujahideen (insurgents)
• Lasted until 1992 after USSR dissolved
• Original plan for ethnic rotation of control failed.

Movement began in madrasahs

• Movement began in madrasahs

• Quranic schools

• Financed by Saudi Arabia

• Located on Pakistani and Afghan border

• Very strict interpretation of Islam (Wahhabism)

• Very hostile to women
• Banning of sports and music
• Soccer fields converted to public disciplinary areas

• Students formed the core of followers of mullahs–religious leaders.

• Gained control of country in mid-1990s

• North maintained something of a state of war.

War in Afghanistan following assassination of Ahmed Shah Masud and New York and Washington, D.C. attacks

• War in Afghanistan following assassination of Ahmed Shah Masud and New York and Washington, D.C. attacks

• US and Britain, allied with Afghan warlords, drive Taliban from control

• Elements of resistance still remain.

• Mullah Omar has never been captured.

• Struggle toward developing a democratic country

• Elections

• Parliament
• President Hamid Karzai

Karzai not well-respected

• Karzai not well-respected

• Taliban resurgent

• Bin Laden and company in mountains bordering Pakistan