Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present (The CERI Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies)

400 Pages·2005·1.66 MB·English

by  Gilles Dorronsoro

REVOLUTION UNENDING

The CERI series in
Comparative Politics and
International Studies
Series editor CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT
Thisseriesconsistsoftranslationsofnoteworthy
publicationsinthesocialsciencesemanatingfromthe
foremostFrenchresearchcentreininternationalstudies,
theParis-basedCentred’EtudesetdeRecherches
Internationales(CERI),partofSciencesPoandassociated
withtheCNRS(CentreNationaldelaRecherche
Scientifique).
Thefocusoftheseriesisthetransformationofpolitics
andsocietybyinternationalanddomesticfactors—global-
isation,migrationandthepost-bipolarbalanceofpoweron
theonehand,andsocietaldynamics,ethnicityandreligion
ontheother.Statesaremorepermeabletoexternal
influencethaneverbeforeandthisphenomenonis
acceleratingprocessesofsocialandpoliticalchangethe
worldover.Inseekingtounderstandandinterpretthese
transformations,thisseriesgiveprioritytosocialtrends
frombelowasmuchastheinterventionsofstateand
non-stateactors.
Foundedin1952,CERIhasfiftyfull-timefellows
drawnfromdifferentdisciplinesconductingresearchon
comparativepoliticalanalysis,internationalrelations,
regionalism,transnationalflows,politicalsociology,political
economyandonindividualstates.

GILLES DORRONSORO
Revolution Unending
Afghanistan: 1979 to the Present
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY JOHN KING
HURST & COMPANY,LONDON
in association with the Centre d’Etudes et de
Recherches Internationales,Paris
First published in 2000 asLa révolution afghane.
Des communistes aux tâlebânby Karthala,Paris
This revised and updated edition first published
in the United Kingdom by C. Hurst & Co.(Publishers) Ltd,
38 King Street,London WC2E 8JZ
© 2005 by Gilles Dorronsoro
All rights reserved.
Printed in India
The right of Gilles Dorronsoro to be identified
as the author of this publication is asserted by him
in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this
book is available from the British Library.
ISBNs
1–85065–683–5casebound
1–85065–703–3paperback
Contents
Foreword page xi
Chronology xv
Glossary xviii
Introduction 1
Reference points 5
–A tribal revolt? 7
–An ethnic war? 9
–A blend of religion and politics? 16
Issues and hypotheses 19
Part I. THE ORIGINS OF THE
AFGHAN REVOLUTION
1. The Sociogenesis of the Afghan State 23
The role of imperialism 24
Neo-patrimonialism 25
The legitimacy of the state 33
Challenges to the state 40
2. From Mobilisation to Revolution 61
The mobilisation of internal resources 61
International funding 63
The politicisation of the educated class 65
The failure of the parliamentary regime 76
Authoritarian mobilisation and repression under Daud 80
Utopia and violence:the communists in power 85
Part II. MOBILISATIONS
3. The Commanders 93
The revolt 93
Jihad 105
vii
viii Contents
‘Qowm’and commanders 108
The social profile of the commanders 111
Models of organisation 123
Finance 129
4. The Jihadi Parties 137
The formation of parties 137
A typology of the parties 149
The parties and the refugees 169
Part III. THE DYNAMICS
OF CONFRONTATION
5. The Kabul Regime 173
The party under Karmal 173
The three strategic dimensions 175
Preparations for the retreat 191
From the Proximity talks to the Geneva accords 198
The post-withdrawal survival of the regime 201
6. The Guerrillas 207
The professionalisation of the fighters 207
The evolution of the political map 212
Inter-party cooperation 223
The mujahidin after the withdrawal 227
Part IV. THE TALIBAN
7. Competition and the Impetus towards Monopoly
(1992–2001) 235
The collapse of the state 237
The regionalisation of the forces (1992–1995) 240
Towards monopolisation 250
8. The Ethnicisation of the Conflict 257
Ethnicisation as a strategy 258
Ethnicisation as an unintended consequence 265
The challenge to the ethnic hierarchy 268
9. The Clerical State 272
The party functionaries 273
Contents ix
State structures 278
The social backlash:the puritan order and social resistance 284
The radicalisation of the Taliban 301
Part V. THE AMERICAN INVASION AND
THE RETURN OF FRAGMENTATION
10. ‘A Splendid Little War’? 315
The strategy of the United States 317
The failure of the Pakistani solution 322
The fall of the Taliban 325
11. The Return to Political Fragmentation 329
The reconstruction of the state 331
The new guerrilla movement 338
Ethnicity,social groups and ideologies 342
12. The Policy of Pakistan 346
Trial of strength with the pro-Taliban movements 347
Commercial and human movements 352
Conclusion 354
Select Bibliography 357
Index 363