Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban [Hardcover]

Larry P. Goodson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

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and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of its economy, which today has been replaced by monoagriculture in opium poppies and heroin production.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 controled roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves have shown increasing discord along ethnic and political lines.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While the current tragedy of Afghanistan is well known, its history remains relatively unknown. This comprehensive academic text written and prepared before Sept. 11 and the subsequent U.S. air strikes on the Taliban examines the past few decades, delving into the interwoven historical, political, economic and geographic factors that precipitated the country's woes. There's information here that will surprise some, such as Goodson's emphasis on the role of Pakistan in bringing the Taliban to power; and the weakness of support for the Taliban outside of the Pashtun tribe. The overall argument about Afghanistan's disintegration has been well covered in the media, but Goodson, a professor of international studies, highlights the impact of interethnic conflicts, exacerbated by the destructive intervention of the U.S.S.R., the United States and Pakistan. There's also more depth, complexity and detail here than the media can provide for example, Goodson estimates that 15% of the population has died since fighting first broke out in 1978. The only solution he offers is the one the West wants a multiethnic, power-sharing government. But writing before the current conflict, Goodson holds little optimism: "the situation there is terrible, and prospects for the future are dismal." And ominously, Goodson believes the collapse of state power in Afghanistan could occur elsewhere in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. General readers might find the book dense and dry, but it provides a helpful background to Afghanistan's current morass. A paperback edition is due in March.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...A solid, and seriously disturbing, book....[Readers will] encounter a keen mind and a point of view that doesn't parrot common rhetoric." -- Dan Hays, Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon

"Readers...can glean much from [this] lucid account of the forces at play in and around Afghanistan..." -- Nancy deWolf Smith, The Wall Street Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295981113
• ISBN-13: 978-0295981116
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goodson good at facts on the ground and global implications, November 30, 2001

By 

Tom L. Forest (Forest Grove, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban (Paperback)

"For weak states... [t]he end of the Cold War has revealed an international system that is flawed and troubled." "It was always assumed in the West that with the end of the Cold War would come the fundamental alteration -- even the end -- of the East European states. It was less well understood that the end of the Cold War could also sound the death knell for many weak Third World states." Larry Goodson writes about Afghanistan in a solid if unspectacular style. A survey of pre-Soviet Afghan history is followed by a detailed recounting of 20 years of war. He provides some basic facts about the country: there are no railroads and only one major highway, which now is more like a jeep track than a highway. Literacy is well under 10%, and life expectancy under 50. Irrigation has been destroyed. Potable water is available to 12% of the population, and almost 50% has been displaced. Two decades of war, supported by military aid, consumption-oriented economic aid, and refugee relief, have left an economy with no functional industry and only drugs, smuggling, and small-scale agriculture to sustain it.

The Cold War played out in the Third World (much the way that colonialism did during the Concert of Europe and its aftermath from 1815 to 1914) as Great Powers vying with each other through proxies in preference to direct conflict. Commercial interests played a secondary role. With the demise of the USSR, commercial interests have not moved to the fore. Rather, second and third-tier Powers have been freed to reenact proxy warfare in the weakest of states, like Afghanistan (and Zaire, Indonesia, etc.). The involvement of several interested outside parties, which he quickly surveys, makes de-escalation nightmarishly difficult, especially as the proxies fear wholesale exile or extermination (a fear with some basis).

"The Taliban lack talented political leadership, competent military performance, and ideological creativity," and were unlikely to form a stable state even if they had been completely victorious. "The Taliban have virtually no program with regard to more traditional areas of social policy, such as public health, infrastructure reconstruction, and education. In these areas the Taliban rely almost completely on outside organizations for assistance, both in keeping with Afghanistan's traditional governmental preference for a rentier economy and the Taliban's focus on warfare to the exclusion of all else... Herat and large areas of Kabul, for example, have had no regular supply of electricity for several years, and water throughout the entire country is unsafe to drink."

The Soviet policy of depopulating the countryside created massive numbers of refugees, most of whom fled to Pakistan. The Soviet unwillingness to invade Pakistan permitted refugee camps to serve as bases for insurrection. Refugee camps have 1,000 to 10,000 familles per camp. A typical village had only 100. Half the camp population are children. These are only a few of the facts to the author uses to convey the "vast cultural changes in the Afghan social framework."

Pakistan's willingness to host a refugee-based insurgency, with assistance from the US, Saudis, and others, has been the most important of factors enabling war to continue long after a locals-only war would have burned out. But Pakistan has paid a price, in the strengthen Islamist voice at home and in "the leaky weapons pipeline and burgeoning drug culture [that] had created a Pakistan rife with violence, crime, and corruption." "Corruption of the pipeline happened at all levels, and weapons destined for use against the Soviets ended up in the hands of Pakistani soldiers or drug traffickers, were sold in the arms bazaars of [Pakistan], or were stockpiled for later use. Estimates of how much aid actually leaked ranged from 20 to 80 percent but mujahideen combat commanders were vocal in their frustration at the lack of assistance."

Even before the war, Afghanistan was a weak state, with limited powers over and integration of its territory and people. In the early parts of the war, the existing ruling classes of tribal and elders and religious leaders were killed or exiled. "Group identity usually extends no farther than the qawm [communal group], which never extends beyond the tribal or ethnic group level and can be much narrower, depending on circumstances." Goodson's chief insight is that Afghanistan's breakdown is part of a worldwide pattern FAR beyond the West and Islam. Only US involvement can alter that pattern -- a prospect whose imminence seemed unlikely to him before 9/11/01. Even after it, that prospect is far from assured.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Larry Goodson Had The Story Before 9/11/2001, November 4, 2001

By 

Elizabeth L. Gunderson "Harley Mom" (Wylie, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban (Paperback)

This book should be read by every U. S. Citizen if you want to understand the who, what, when, where and how of the world politic in Afghanistan. Reading this book will give you a complete understanding of the meaning of the word "Blowback".

It is easy to read and understand. He sets forth all the historical facts including the facts that we do not want to hear. No matter what you may think before reading Mr. Goodson's book, after you read his book you certainly will have more to think about.

Many people who thought they had the answer as to what to do about Afghanistan, have found themselves asking. . . "What should we do about Afghanistan and the Middle East"? If you read closely he gives us a few hints!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Generates thought, November 29, 2001

By 

Colin C. Mckenna (Lafayette, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban (Paperback)

Rather than give all the answers, Goodson documents a bewildering chain of events and players in this chaotic region of the world. His reasoning appears sound and his research impeccable.

After reading the book (one interesting passage, by the way, was his comment (I paraphrase) "it would be difficult to imagine a scenario that would remove the Taliban from power in the near future" I was left pondering the amazing twist and turns reality takes -- and saw this whole region in an entirely different light. Particularly the role of Pakistan.

(Some might see) the book as rather sterile. I did not. I found it much more engaging than "Tournament of Shadows", for example -- but then again, I am fascinated by the kind of analysis this author engages in. Showing how behavior (of individuals, societies, cultures) is multi-determined, and avoiding the pitfalls of simplistic answers to complex questions.