Afghanistan's Endless War

State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban

Larry P. Goodson

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780295801582
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Asian American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and black-turbaned Taliban fundamentalists, Larry Goodson explains in this concise analysis of the Afghan war what has really been happening in Afghanistan in the last twenty years. Beginning with the reasons behind Afghanistan's inability to forge a strong state -- its myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical fault lines -- Goodson then examines the devastating course of the war itself. He charts its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than 2 million Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of its economy, which today has been replaced by monoagriculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban, some of whose leaders Goodson interviewed as recently as 1997, have controlled roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves have shown increasing discord along ethnic and political lines.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Maps and Tables
• Preface
• 1. Afghanistan in the Post-Cold War World
• 2. Historical Factors Shaping Modern Afghanistan
• 3. Modern War in Afghanistan: Destruction of a State
• 4. Impact of the War on Afghan State and Society
• 5. Afghanistan and the Changing Regional Environment
• 6. The Future of Afghanistan
• Appendix: Major Actors in Modern Afghan History
• Notes
• Glossary
• References Cited
• Index