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The Resource Afghanistan : a cultural and political history, Thomas Barfield

Afghanistan : a cultural and political history, Thomas Barfield

Creator
Summary
This work traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. The author introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. He describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. He examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. This book helps the reader understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the "graveyard of empires" for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate.-- publisher description
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xi, 389 p.
Contents
  • People
  • Conquering and ruling pre-modern Afghanistan
  • Anglo-Afghan Wars and state building in Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan in the twentieth century : state and society in conflict
  • Afghanistan enters the twenty-first century
  • Some conclusions
Isbn
9780691145686
Instance
Label
Afghanistan : a cultural and political history
Title
Afghanistan
Title remainder
a cultural and political history
Statement of responsibility
Thomas Barfield
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
This work traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. The author introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. He describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. He examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. This book helps the reader understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the "graveyard of empires" for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate.-- publisher description
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1950-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Barfield, Thomas J.
Dewey number
958.1
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
LC call number
DS357.5
LC item number
.B37 2010
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
Princeton studies in Muslim politics
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan
  • Islam and politics
Label
Afghanistan : a cultural and political history, Thomas Barfield
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-366) and index
Contents
People -- Conquering and ruling pre-modern Afghanistan -- Anglo-Afghan Wars and state building in Afghanistan -- Afghanistan in the twentieth century : state and society in conflict -- Afghanistan enters the twenty-first century -- Some conclusions
Control code
ocn466341401
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
xi, 389 p.
Isbn
9780691145686
Isbn Type
(acid-free paper)
Lccn
2010002082
Other physical details
ill. maps
System control number
(OCoLC)466341401
Label
Afghanistan : a cultural and political history, Thomas Barfield
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-366) and index
Contents
People -- Conquering and ruling pre-modern Afghanistan -- Anglo-Afghan Wars and state building in Afghanistan -- Afghanistan in the twentieth century : state and society in conflict -- Afghanistan enters the twenty-first century -- Some conclusions
Control code
ocn466341401
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
xi, 389 p.
Isbn
9780691145686
Isbn Type
(acid-free paper)
Lccn
2010002082
Other physical details
ill. maps
System control number
(OCoLC)466341401

Subject

Member of

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