Wounded Afghanistan English 2004

This book 'A Wounded Communism, Fundamentalism and Democracy' examines the impact of foreign interventions since 1979 on the socio-political developments of Afghanistan and the circumstances, which made it the epicentre of terrorism. The strategic location of Afghanistan in central Asia and its closeness to Eurasia led to geopolitical rivalry for resource loot between imperialistic powers, the British empire and USA on the one hand and Czarist Russia and the USSR on the other. The Soviet intervention in the 1970s and the sovietization of Afghan society led to the emergence of Mujahideen resistance and political upsurge of Islamic fundamentalism (Talibanism), a sort of restoration with vengeance of the Afghan version of Islamic laws in politics and society. The decline of Pushtun dominance and the assertion of other minorities such as Tajiks also contributed to the rise of Taliban. Besides big actors, the book sees Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia as significant players in the Afghan crisis. The Taliban extremism paved the way to human rights violations of minorities and women. The September 11 attack on America and harbouring of Osama Bin Laden by Taliban led to the US intervention in Afghanistan. Now the country is facing nation-building challenges among which ethnic rivalry and warlordism are major ones.