Current History Review: Dialectics of the Afghanistan Conflict

About Me

Author and researcher. I was a BBC journalist for 23 years, from 1977 to 2000, during which I worked as a foreign correspondent, Senior Producer and Chief Sub-Editor. Set up the BBC Bureau in Afghanistan, a country in which I have taken a close interest since the Communist coup in 1978. Author of a major study on the Afghan conflict during the Cold War and the rise of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in the 1990s. Main interests are South and West Asia and the US.

Education:

BA in politics, economic, sociology and English from Christian College, Indore (1973).

PG Dip BA from Edinburgh Business School (2002).

Wrote DPhil thesis (2002-2007) entitled ‘Origins of Terrorism: A History of the Afghan Conflict’ at the University of Sussex. Coursework included paper titled ‘The Relevance of Positivism in Social Science’ (71%, Grade A+). Research findings published in ‘Dialectics of the Afghanistan Conflict’ (Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, March 2008).

Post-Graduate study at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1973-1974).

Affiliations:

Member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London & the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom.

Sunday, 26 October 2008

Dialectics of the Afghanistan Conflict

Occasional Paper, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

The last three decades of the twentieth century were a period of intense conflict between competing ideologies. That conflict was played out in Afghanistan. The clash of capitalism and communism, both essentially Western ideologies, magnified the internal divisions within the tribal system in Afghanistan. This paper looks at the chain of events during the Cold War and examines the impact of East-West rivalries on Afghanistan. It provides a historical analysis of the rise of the Islamist group, Taliban, and the country’s transformation into a terrorist sanctuary. The paper concludes by identifying the damage done to the Afghan state and indicating a remedial way forward in such a situation. Go

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Selected Publications and Current Work

RESEARCH

Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan (Potomac Books, Virginia, November 2009)

Afghanistan: The Real Story behind Terrorism (TBP, 2010)

Dialectics of the Afghanistan Conflict: How the country became a terrorist haven (Occasional Paper, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, 2008) Go

The Relevance of Positivism in Social Science (University of Sussex Paper, 2003)

Sri Lanka’s foreign policy dilemmas (Discussion Paper Series No 16, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1989) ISSN 0951-4171

LECTURES/TALKS

The Media in the New Century: Opportunities and Challenges (JK Business School, Gurgaon, India, 7 March 2009)

The World We Live in Today (Indore Indira School of Career Studies, Indore, India, 2 March 2009)

The Jayewardene Era and Sri Lanka's Forthcoming Elections, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, 31 January 1989)

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Obama's Pakistan Test (History News Network, George Mason University, Virginia, 6 May 2009) Go

Obama's Biggest Foreign-Policy Challenge? Pakistan in Crisis (CounterPunch, 6 May 2009) Go

Obama's Poser: The Pakistan Enigma (CounterPunch, 6 April 2009) Go

The BBC's Day of Shame (History News Network, George Mason University, Virginia, 26 January 2009) Go

Bush's Final Act: A Bloody War in Gaza (AlterNet, 9 January 2009) Go

Gaza in Perspective (The Palestine Chronicle, 1 January 2009) Go

Obama's Afghan Surge (Media Monitors Network, 28 December 2008) Go

India's neoliberal elite (Online Journal, 18 December 2008) Go

Obama's Foreign Crises (CounterPunch, 1 December 2008)Go

Uproar in Police-State Britain (CounterPunch, 28 November 2008) Go

Essential Reading for Obama (Online Journal, 17 November 2008) Go

Post-Bush Scenarios (CounterPunch, 23 October 2008) Go

Understanding Terror (ZNet, 18 October 2008) Go

The West is Broke (Business Spectator, 11 October 2008) Go

And It's Not Just A Financial Bankruptcy: The West is Broke (CounterPunch, 8 October 2008) Go

A Bitter Harvest (History News Network, George Mason University, Virginia, 5 October 2008) Go

Bush's Other Failed War: A Bitter Harvest in Afghanistan (CounterPunch, 30 September 2008) Go

Imperial America: success or failure, (OpEdNews, 30 September 2008) Go

The Stakes in the 2008 Election, (OpEdNews, 26 September 2008) Go

Pakistan, India and America after the Bush presidency (Online Journal, 11 September 2008) Go

John McCain as John Major?: Politics, Morality and the GOP (CounterPunch, 5 September 2008)Go

On the Race for the White House (History News Network, George Mason University, Virginia, 2 September 2008) Go

The Military Waits in the Wings: Pakistan in Uncertain Times (CounterPunch, 23 August 2008)Go

The Breaking Point: A New Age of Torture (CounterPunch, 19 August 2008) Go

From Georgia to the Brink of a New Cold War: A Pawn in Their Game (CounterPunch, 16 August 2008) Go

The essence of patriotism (Online Journal, 25 July 2008) Go

Civil Liberties: At long last, someone takes a stand (Online Journal, 25 June 2008) Go

Al-Qaeda defeated? (American Chronicle, 18 June 2008) Go

Running out of Time, and Friends (The Palestine Chronicle, 21 May 2008) Go

Lebanon: A victim of foreign ambitions, (Online Journal, 15 May 2008) Go

The problem with America, (Online Journal, 12 May 2008) Go

America's clumsy diplomacy (The National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC, 6 May 2008) Go

Pakistan: the return of Benazir Bhutto (World Today, RIIA, Chatham House, London, December 1993)

Pakistan in Turmoil (World Today, RIIA, Chatham House, London, June 1993)

Afghanistan: the last episode? (World Today, RIIA, January 1992)

The end of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty? (World Today, July 1991)

India and Nepal at loggerheads (World Today, RIIA, June 1989)

India’s Maldives mission and after (World Today, January 1989)

India’s foreign policy: the Rajiv factor (World Today, July 1988)

Sri Lanka’s elusive peace (World Today, November 1987)

Rajiv Gandhi’s Punjab poser (World Today, July 1987)

India: A Changing Role for Foreign Aid Agencies (The World's Children, Save the Children, June 1987)

NEWSPAPER & MAGAZINE ARTICLES

Najibullah asks US to end Mujahideen support following coup (Daily Telegraph, London, 9 March 1990)

Najibullah’s Moscow holiday (Economist, 1 September 1990)

With friends like these … (Economist, 13 October 1990)

Mujahideen dismiss Najibullah peace plan (Daily Telegraph, London, 2 May 1990)

Afghan war splutters on a year after troops leave (Daily Telegraph,15 February 1990)

Quotes

Culture of violence is a condition in which violence permeates all levels of society and becomes part of human thinking, behaviour and way of life.

All acts of violence involve a degree of terror. Where peace and order prevail, the mix of coercion and incentives has gained a broad consensus and institutions are available to citizens to challenge existing measures. It is the basis of legitimacy.

The Afghanistan conflict can be seen in four, often overlapping, phases. First, state frailty triggered internal conflict. Second, the initial conflict attracted foreign powers and ideologies. Third, intensification of the conflict accelerated institutional breakdown. And, then, foreign indifference left a void in which violent groups found sanctuary.

Rise of terrorism: Parallels can be seen in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and other places, where social and institutional frailties, combined with outside intervention, fuel a dialectic of violence, which, in time, becomes part of the culture. Violent players and victims become used to coercion, their thinking and behaviour driven by the perceived justification for, or expectation of, use of force to resolve matters. Players and victims may be different in each place. What triggers a cycle of violence is unique and where events may lead to may be unknown. Still, where the appropriate agents are present, a violent dialectic and terror are close companions.

Problem with America: America's image under President George W Bush has greatly suffered from three main problems - compulsive masculinity, a widening gulf between principles and actions and difficulty in dealing with unpleasant legacies.

Current History Review