Abstract
Afghanistan is a land that is known for its war, violence, and instability. Called a rogue state, Afghanistan has been living with violence and war as part of its reality for the last four decades. The ordinary lives of civilians have been marred by violent and unwelcoming foreign involvement, invasion, and tussle for power. Afghanistan has historically been caught up between foreign powers and treated like a pawn in a larger global conflict. At different times in history, parties have tried to get control over this landlocked, strategically important country. As a result, Afghanistan has never really seen a stable, long-lasting, democratically functioning government leading it to be called the Graveyard of Empires. In its political history, it has worked like a puppet in the hands of foreign powers and has been able to function only with their support and aid. Afghanistan is a fragile state struggling to form a stable polity and clamouring for world recognition and, more importantly, support. This chapter takes the reader on a journey to war-torn Afghanistan.
TopIntroduction
In the 19th century, Afghanistan was caught in the Great Game- between the Russian empire in the north and the British Empire in the south (Biddle, 2014). This imperial rivalry began the vicious circle of war, violence, and instability, haunting the lives of the common people. Wars have been part and parcel of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been predominantly a tribal state. The Durand line that clearly defined the territory of Afghanistan was not met with much acceptance among the more tribal areas surrounding the border. Hostility was thus a common phenomenon. The social fabric has been fractured. Afghanistan is a fragile state struggling to form a stable polity and clamoring for world recognition and, more importantly, support.
A Historical Timeline: Afghanistan
Afghanistan has seen some major regime changes during its entire political history. This period saw comparatively more rights for women and a liberal regime. However, this was short-lived as Duad, who was in favor of getting closer to the Soviet Union, led a coup supported by the military and, with the help of the Soviet Union, managed to topple the government. Under him, Afghanistan was turned into a modern socialist Islamic state under the influence and support of the USSR. Under him, the country discarded traditional affinities, roles, and social structures. This change in the social structure was not met with kindness leading to a huge social upheaval, especially by the more conservative, traditional tribals. As a result, Daud was also overthrown at the hands of a coup led by the Communist Afghanistan Peoples Democratic Party. Immediately two factions arose, scrambling to get power. The one led by Nur Mohammad Taraki won. With the help of the Soviets, he tried to impose radical socialist reforms (Bush, 2010). The cold war during this time also had a tremendous effect on Afghanistan. Both the USSR and USA were trying to strengthen their hold over most of the globe, and Afghanistan, at such a strategic juncture, wanted to get the cake. Each waited hungrily for an opportunity to grab anything they could (Sinha et al., 2021). So, when several tribal groups and factions opposed the regime of Taraki, the USA took advantage of this situation and began funding these groups with money and material. The USA took advantage of the fact that these groups were opposing the regime that was in favor of communism. Several uprisings were taking place against the regime that fits perfectly with the USA’s plan to stop the force of communism from reaching Afghanistan.
Motivation for the Work
The major objectives of this chapter include:
- 1.
To establish why Afghanistan has never had a stable political environment.
- 2.
To find out the causes of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
- 3.
To ascertain the degree of war crimes and human rights violations in Afghanistan.
The chapter is organized as follows. Section 1 presents the history of the Taliban, Section 2 presents the research background, Section 3 presents the theoretical framework, and Section 4 presents the solution and recommendation. Finally, the conclusion is drawn for the entire chapter.
Background Of The Work
International human rights laws and standards bind Afghanistan. It is a party to the International Covenant on civil and political rights and the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (Jervis, 2017). The Taliban in Afghanistan has a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the right to life and to prohibit torture and other ill-treatment. Afghanistan is also a party to the convention on child’s rights. According to this convention, a child means someone below 18.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Humanitarian Crisis: A humanitarian crisis is a singular event or series of events threatening a community’s health, safety, or well-being or a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or external conflict and usually occurs throughout a large land area.
Violence: It is a behavior that harms or damages somebody/something physically.
Human Rights: The basic freedoms that all people should have, for example, the right to say what they think and to travel freely.
Power: The ability to control people or things or to do something; typically, political control of a country or area.
War Crimes: A crime (such as genocide or maltreatment of prisoners) committed during or in connection with the war.
War-Torn: It is devastated by war or conflict.
Soviet Union: A powerful group of Communist republics, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and 11 others, existed in Europe and Asia from 1922 to 1991.
Instability: The state of being likely to change; not stable.