| Description |
1 online resource (ix, 342 p.) : map |
| Contents |
From Tribal Confederacy to National Coalescence -- National Awakening and Nationalism -- Independence and Radical Modernisation -- The Nadiri Dynasty: Politics of National Gradualism and 'Royal Dualism' -- The Cold War and the Rise of a Rentier State -- Experiment with Democracy 1963-73 -- Daoud's Republicanism -- Communist Rule, the Soviet Invasion and Resistance -- Mujahideen Islamic Rule, Taliban Extremism and US Intervention |
| Summary |
Afghanistan's recent history is a sad one: Soviet invasion in 1979; Pakistan-backed internal conflict in the 1980s; the Taliban regime and then the US invasion and the multi-national occupation after the events of September 11th 2001. Why does Afghanistan remain so vulnerable to domestic instability, foreign intervention and ideological extremism? Amin Saikal provides us with a sweeping new understanding of this troubled country that situates Afghanistan's problems in 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 1978. And here, for the first time, is an up-to-date analysis of the era of the Taliban's rule, the effects of US intervention in the country and attempts to negotiate a US withdrawal - including talks about talks with the Taliban themselves. This book, which sets the crisis of Afghanistan in the context of the country's modern history and social structures, makes a major and highly original contribution towards a better and more nuanced understanding of this ill-fated land. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (p. [317]-333) and index |
| Notes |
Description based on print version record |
| Subject |
Political science -- Afghanistan
|
| SUBJECT |
Afghanistan -- Politics and government -- History
|
|
Afghanistan -- History
|
|
Afghanistan -- Politics and government
|
| Genre/Form |
History.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
1417582375 (electronic bk.) |
|
9781417582372 (electronic bk.) |
|
1850434379 |
|
9781850434375 |
|
