Asian Trips - Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics
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Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1
EAN: 9780060505080
ISBN: 0060505087
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2002-09-01
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2002-09-17
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Reviews:
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A fascinating chronicle of a nation's turbulent history. Reaching back to earliest times, Martin Ewans examines the historical evolution of one of today's most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism. After a succession of early dynasties and the emergence of an Afghan empire during the eighteenth century, the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fierce power struggle between Russia and Britain for supremacy in Afghanistan that was ended by the nation's proclamation of independence in 1919. A communist coup in the late 1970s overthrew the established regime and led to the invasion of Soviet troops in 1979. Roughly a decade later, the Soviet Union withdrew, condemning Afghanistan to a civil war that tore apart the nation's last remnants of religious, ethnic, and political unity. It was into this climate that the Taliban was born. Today, war-torn and economically destitute, Afghanistan faces unique challenges as it looks toward an uncertain future. Martin Ewans carefully weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at Afghanistan's prospects and the international resonances of the nation's immense task of total political and economic reconstruction.
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Summary: A concise history of a turbulent country
Comment: Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics
By Martin Ewans
This short and quick read easily lives up to its title. This would be a good introductory book to anyone who wants an overview of the history and culture that is very much alive in Afghanistan today. The citizens of Afghanistan have a very keen sense of their history and will talk about conflicts between tribes that happened decades or centuries ago as if they were yesterday. May of the conspiracy theories that this book says Afghans hold to the influence of Britian, the US or Russia on their lives have been echoed by the interpreters that I had here in country.
The book is good for anyone who wants an overview of Afghanistan's history in the last two centuries. While the book touches on Alexander and Genghis Khan, it does not give them nearly the treatment of some other books. Likewise, its treatment of the events of the Great Game between Russian and Britian are complete, but it rarely goes into detail on any particular event. This makes the book good for providing an overall framework for anyone looking to get deeper into the history and politics of the region.
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Summary: A Good Introduction to Afghan History Through 2000, But With Weaknesses
Comment: Martin Ewans has given us a useful, highly readable introduction to the people and history of Afghanistan. It begins with a short introduction on the geography and the ethno-linguistic groups of the modern nation. Unfortunately, because it is only a general survey, a serious student will find this material inadequate. Moreover, Ewans' knowledge and experience as a diplomat can work against him as a scholar -- he relies too heavily on assertion and background knowledge, where the book would have profited from better footnotes and sourcing, especially for the modern era where his assertions are more controversial.
Just as one example, he asserts that "the Afghan fiasco was also one of the catalysts that led to the break-up of the Soviet Union on the late 1980s and early 1990s" (p. 169, all citations are to the hardback edition). I use this example because a detailed defense of this statement is clearly beyond the scope of a book on Afghanistan, and yet it is conroversial enough that Ewans should at least refer us to a book that does discuss the question.
This problem is minor for the first thirteen chapters or so, simply because political/social bias does not usually color historical works the further back in time one goes. This book easily earns three stars for these informative and useful chapters (although, again, the serious student will only find it useful as a starting point).
Chapters 14 through 18 cover the Afghan communist movement, through the Soviet invasion, through civil war, and the advent of the Taliban. Ewans does a good job of simplifying extremely complex issues, but again, not without problems. In describing the mujahidin, he acknowledges that "there are dangers in being too dogmatic in describing and classifying them." (pp. 153-54). But he continues to describe the very different (in terms of ideology, techniques, foreign support and degrees of success) groups with the broad label "mujahidin." This tendency is odd at first, but becomes more frustrating in the civil war chapters, where the different groups start to fight among themselves.
In final two chapters and epilogue, Ewans goes from historian to pundit, offering an analysis of the current state of Afghanistan, the blame for its problems, and where it will go in the future. As usual, some of his assertions are without support. On page 211, he quotes "one distinguished academic" without even identifying who that academic is, let alone the source of the quote.
He claims that "If there is to be a tolerable outcome, there will somehow have to be a settlement of all these issues, no doubt brokered by the united nations" (p. 214). This sentence is objectionable for a number of reasons. First, a "tolerable" outcome in a nation state does not necessarily involve the resolution of all problems (England's hyper-aggressive colonialism and denial of political rights in the 19th century, or America's constitutional protection of slavery for over a century, are black spots on their records, but don't make them "failed states"). Ewans points out that the Afghan government cannot provide for its citizens' basic needs, but it is by no means clear that a government is responsible for satisfying basic needs in the first place. Second, Ewans does not explain why the United Nations, with a striking track record of failure in resolving international conflicts, should suddenly become successful in Afghanistan. Ewans' own evidence underscores this point: starting with a totally useless resolution condemning the Soviet invasion (because the Russians have a veto power on the Securit Council; p. 151), and continuing through the present (because of the Taliban's total lack of concern with world opinion), all attempts to use the United Nations to broker political reconciliation have produced no results at all.
His conclusions frequently contradict the evidence he produces in previous chapters. He claims that in Afghanistan, "a fiercely independent people have been more determined than almost any other to resist outside interference..." (p. 213). But Ewans' own survey belies his exaggeration of their independence. The warring mujahidin groups and the Taliban all receive foreign cash, training and equipment, from nations such as America, Iran and Pakistan, while Najibullah's government was directly controlled and armed by the Soviets. The pre-occupation communists (Taraki, Karmal and Amin) received education and political support from the Soviets. All previous presidents and kings accepted at least financial assitance from Russians, Americans and/or British, in the form of technical assistance, loans on highly favorable terms, roads, airports, military equipment and training, and a massive (but failed) dam project for the Helmand valley. In what sense, then, have the Afghans demonstrated their determination to resist outside interference?
A few final thoughts. This is primarily a political/military history. Religion and culture primarily figures only as an explanation for political developments. The few maps are good, but could be better (not all of the place-names mentioned in the text are shown in the maps). The writing style is straightforward and highly readable. And at only 214 pages, the book is fast and never boring. All in all, this is not a bad book by any means. It simply fails to live up to its potential, and so cannot rate more than three stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A pithy review
Comment: I liked this book, had no problem reading it, and recommend it. Presumably when reviewers refer to it as "dry", they mean in comparison to such popular histories as Peter Hopkirk's fascinating "The Great Game". But, Hopkirk's point of view lends to the events an air of "the plucky British soldiers" fighting against "incredible odds" in their 19th century incursions into Afghanistan. What happened is that the disciplined British military with the aid of superior tactics and weaponry massacred numerous Afghanis in their quest to keep their Indian empire secure (from a Russian invasion that might never have occurred anyway), and, in due course, suffered some massacres of their own. I don't suggest Hopkirk whitewashed these events. Rather, he knows a story is more appealing with "heros" and "villains", and constructing these is how the very readable "The Great Game" makes a century of fairly detailed Central Asian history palatable.
Ewans's book lacks heros and villains. It's briefer and is consciously even-handed, written with a diplomat's grasp of how the personalities of leaders and the policies of powerful countries towards poor ones steer events. If you want a pithy review of Afghanistan's interactions with the world's great powers, its politics, and the succession of leaders from Dost Mohammed forward, this is your book. It certainly served me well.
Weaknesses of this book include, first, the sketchiness of the pre-19th century history and, second, a sharp focus on leaders and politics giving little idea of how ordinary Afghans lived, especially in rural areas (that is, until the closing chapters dealing with the Communist government, Soviet invasion, and regimes of the Mujahidin and Taliban). I'd like to know more about life in and leaders of the powerful rural tribes, who for 150 years have erected road blocks to the policies of kings, prime ministers, and presidents.
One source for conditions in the country-side are the travelogues of 20th century adventurers: Robert Byron "The road to Oxiana" (1930s - 6 stars out of a possible 5, though about 2/3s of that book concerns Iran), Eric Newby "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" (1950s - humor in the mountains), and Peter Levi "The light garden of the angel king" (1970s - next on my stack to read, but seems highly regarded by all).
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Summary: A must read on this subject
Comment: This book can be recommended to anyone interested in the history of the general mess now known as Afghanistan. In addition to being scholarly (which some people call "dry") and concise, Ewans, as a former diplomat, tends to be honest about many issues which Westerners were previously clueless or not bothered about, or which they deliberately "fudged up", so as to justify their anti-Soviet policy. That is commendable, on part of a Western writer. But it may be too late to do any good now. Before "9/11" most Western books on this subject tended to be hysterically biased in favour of the "Mujahideen" Islamic war of resistance, funded by capitalism; now of course, ever since that fateful day of 9/11, on which Bin Laden and his Taliban cohorts gave the West a tremendous kick in the backside, the books are hysterical in a different way. Actually, I agree more with the latter type of hysteria (and not at all the former). It has more than an element of truth in it. In this review, I take the opportunity to add my personal experience to Mr. Ewans' narrative and thereby enhance it. I belong in Peshawar, on the Pakistani side of the ethnic Pashtun (the basic majority Afghan ethnicity, from which it the word "Afghan" is derived) area. This area was conquered and split, by the British, from Afghanistan and added to their Indian Empire under a treaty finalised in 1893. For that I am thankful in more ways than one. I am half-English, and twenty years ago, as a college student, was a Marxist supporter of Afghanistan's Soviet supported Communist "Saur" Revolution. Though experience has since nullified most of my beliefs in Marxism and also disillusioned me regarding the nature of Afghan communists - who have proven to be no different than their opposite brethren, the truth of what happened in that war between the Soviets and the American Jihadist Islamic resistance can not be altered. Many Western writers - now that they see what the policies of their countries have led to - try to absolve their countries of blame by dismissing the Afghan episode as resulting from a "Vietnam revenge" policy of the US. That is childish to say the least; however, it may be the best excuse they can find, since pre-9/11 Western opinion in this regard was that they were "freeing" the Afghan people so that the latter "could live freely according to their own culture and religion..." But comparisons with Vietnam are also false and futile. Vietnam's story was the fight of an awakened people for national and economic self-determination against capitalist enslavement; Whereas Afghanistan's was the fight of one of the most misguided, subnormal, gladly backward and morose minded people the world has ever seen - against the benefits of social modernisation; and in this the Afghans were aided by criminal modern world powers who thought that doing so would further their greedy geopolitical objectives ("9/11" proved otherwise though! The USSR, Capitalism's "greatest enemy" is nowhere to be seen, and has been replaced by rabid Islamic fanatics who "can't be seen" till they explode!) The Booklist editorial review of Martin Ewans' book on this page is rightly pessimistic when it says that only "modern" (19th and 20th c.) Afghan history matters to the world, since: "There aren't a lot of bright spots in modern Afghan history. The people share no linguistic, religious, or ethnic traditions and have come together only to fight common enemies. Two wars with the British and the mujahadeen resistance against the Soviets devastated both the people and the economy, but the anarchy following the wars was equally crippling. Often lacking a centralized government, the few rulers Afghanistan has known, from Daoud to Mullah Omar, have been charismatic personalities but hugely ineffective leaders... Afghanistan has known no peace in 40 years and little peace in all its history..." That speaks for itself. The mess is even more exacerbated by the devastating Islamic fire the West and its lackeys kindled in the world because of this; and shame be upon those traitorous "modern" Afghans who fled to the West to live a "better life" so easily.
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Summary: Complete History of Afghanistan
Comment: Martin Ewans, who previously served as a British diplomat in Afghanistan, is clearly someone who is very knowledegable of Afghan history and its people. However, the title "A Short History" may be a bit misleading, as this is, in fact, a thorough examination of Afghan history with some rather dense writing. Certainly it is more for those seriously interested in the subject matter rather than the casual reader.
Another thing to consider is that this book covers Afghanistan from its earliest days to the modern era. Personally, I was most interested in Afghanistan's ancient history as well as the contemporary period, especially the Taliban and the current U.S. military presence. Instead its ancient history is only briefly discussed, with the bulk of the book being devoted to the 1800's and 1900's. The book does offer substantial and insightful coverage of the Soviet occupation, the mujahidin and the Taliban. But, since the book was written in 2002, it's not completely up to date on what is currently happening in Afghanistan. So someone primarily interested in post-Taliban Afghanistan might do better with one of the many books devoted solely to the contemporary era.
Still Ewans is a extremely intelligent man and has tremendous amounts of information and insight to convey regarding Afgan history. This one is worth reading for those with a serious interest in the country
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