A Project Development of Afghanistan - Research Paper Example

Different nations across the world are known by their characteristic features which enable their identification across the globe. Some of them are popular in more than one area and attract attention from across the world. Afghanistan is one of those nations that hold an important place on the map of earth. Introduction: Afghanistan is a landlocked country that holds a very vital position on the map. While broadly it resides on the continent Asia but it can be linked to South Asia and Central Asia. More precisely it is considered as a gateway towards joining two main parts of Asia, the south eastern block and Central Asian block. For this purpose, it holds interest of many countries and is of high strategic importance. On one corner it is surrounded by countries of the new Central Asian states, on other it is surrounded by nuclear powers like Pakistan and India. Background: The background history of Afghanistan is an extensive one and always have civilizations and conquers of various civilizations resorted to Afghanistan. From Alexander to the Mahmud Ghanznavi (Qureshi) to Khushan dynasty to Mughals, all have found this place appealing and at one time or other during their reign, they have tried conquering it and making it their own land. Afghanistan is a land rich of culture, natural resources, perfect terrain, beautiful weather, all sets of climate. All these features make it most sought after in the eyes of conquerors. For this reason it has been attempted at invasion time and again. Dost Mohammad’s name surfaced at the time when Ango Afghan war broke out(Gladstone, 100) and they tried silencing the tribal war lords and instated a British friendly leader Shah Shuja, however being an artificial setup, he was dethroned in no time and was later on assassinated as well. Dost Mohammad being the true and genuine local leader, held on to the throne for a considerable while and he was followed by his children who served the country and kept a grip over the remote areas of Afghanistan which were even hard for the British government to take over and establish government there. His rule was followed by Abdur Rehman family, who himself ruled successfully and he was later followed by his own son Habibullah. The last two who ruled peacefully and prior to the civil war and Soviet Republic revolution were the Zahir shah and Daud shah. Their reign was brought to an end in form of foreign occupant’s attempt to take over the country. They failed to do so, yet the country fell into a quagmire of civil war itself. Considering these facts, Afghanistan has had share of rough luck because most of its background history can be stretched to the pursuit of foreign invaders and nations in modern times. This is reduced the growth it should have achieved on economic level, political level and cultural level. All these reasons along with various other political intrigues and social imbalances have resulted in Afghanistan ending up being an unstable country and war torn. The feudal background held by the people of mountainous areas is another region that has resulted in the nation’s backwardness. The most recent invasion and unrest took place in form of American Occupation. The American troops landed on their soil and invaded the land and toppled the then existing government of Taliban. Political reasons were behind it but the civilians were the major casualty of overall adventure. More than the government, the officials, the civilians suffered. The children could no more go to schools, the ladies though were liberated in a sense yet the markets and outer places were no more safe. It was hard to find any day that was free of any bloodshed in the country. This has put Afghanistan on the back foot and even a decade after the invasion, Afghanistan has not settled and its land is being occupied and run by foreign forces in the form of I.S.A.F and American army in prime. The recent war was nothing new in the history of Afghanistan’s national history. The then super power U.S.S.R invaded it in 1979 and tried toppling the government (Kulke and Rothermund,363). Bring the brave nation they are, they resisted the attempt and foiled their pursuit, yet the war was too expensive to afford and it led to disintegration of the internal setup and by the end of the war, though the foreign invaders were defeated yet it resulted in civil war with war lords claiming their superiority over the tribes and areas. The possibility and existence of a stronger central government in such situations was not feasible and most of the times, the central government was either run by foreign dictations or weak internal control. Culture: The culture of Afghanistan is a male dominated one. Men mostly are responsible for decision making matters. They are the bread earners and resources providers. Women mostly do not come out to the public places, even if they do so, they do in proper covering in form of burqa and veil. Jirga systems are common in practice, in the rural parts of the country, men make living through cultivation and other means. The culture is driven by sense of hospitality. The culture is a Pukhtoon culture highly characteristic of the region. Specific dressing is part of culture. The veil and proper covering by women, men mostly wear white hats, and shawl (cloak) on their backs. In the tribal parts of the country, men are usually seen to be carrying guns and weapons tied around their waists. While some wear it for the purpose of rivalry and protection from enemy, others wear it for the purpose of following the culture since this has been part of Afghanistan culture for long. Religion Islam is an evident and dominant part of their culture. Religion Followed: Islam is the dominant religion being followed far and wide in the country. The sunni community makes up the majority of population. Islam was introduced to this region and this particular country in 8th century A.D. Since then, it has been a strong fort of religion Islam. Economic System: The country’s economy is in shackles due to the war. No country can afford multiple wars of international level in less than five decades. Afghanistan unfortunately has had rough luck in this regard as a result its economy is totally crippled and devastated. Its infrastructure is no more in satisfactory working conditions. Institutes are not working properly due to multiple reasons. The insurgency is one of them and lack of competence is another (Runion, 5). Economy is largely dependent on foreign aid and American government’s spending in the country. Lack of infrastructure and peace in the country is hurting its economic situation overall. Afghanistan has the potential and what it needs is trading ties with neighboring countries. Large amount of natural resources cover the mountains of the country. The need is to capitalize them and reduce dependence on the foreign aids. It can be done so through introducing transparency in the system and by bringing merit in the system which enables creation of opportunity and prosperity in the society. Modern day challenges: Afghanistan in modern day is faced with a plethora of challenges. Ranging from Social challenges to economic to politic to educational, to health to religious extremism and all other challenges that hurdle a nation and a society’s way towards the prosperity. It is no wonder for Afghanistan to suffer from such a condition since it is a war torn country and has seen war more than twice in last fifty years. Due to the constant state of wars, nearly a complete generation grew up as refugees in the bordering countries. Communication technologies: Ever since America has landed on its land, it has brought along couple of improvements with regard to the mode of communication in Afghanistan. Mobile phone companies have been initiated, though the rural parts are still void of it. Satellite phones are equally workable in the country. For physical means of communication, the communication is mostly done through roads (Alikuzai,251). Afghanistan does not have any railway system, nor does it have any sea hence no shipping industry as such. Its official airline is Ariana Airline (Clammer ,214), which connects the country with rest of the world. Its flights are bound to number of cities including the neighboring countries and within the cities. Again the lack of infrastructure is being observed since not all parts of the country have air transport links to them and some of the cities where the aero plane flights facilities are available are only on weekly basis. Next step: Being a nation and country with so much potential, so many natural resources and all the possibilities, Afghanistan can stand on its feet provided it is reformed and given opportunities that it duly deserves. The first foremost need of a prosperous Afghanistan is that of peace. The regional peace is directly subject to the peace of Afghanistan. Due to its strategic positioning, its overall peace impacts the rest of the region. National consensus need to be developed between the tribal leaders, the national political parties and the local units of different provinces. Besides this, the social development is of high importance towards the prosperity of the country. It can be achieved through equal opportunities to the masses, human rights protection, civic liberties, most importantly the role of women is of importance. Since Afghanistan has a history of neglected women in its society. Women are an integral part of any society and they contribute large amount to its prosperity, therefore they cannot be excluded from it. Education: Education serves as the bench marks towards the country’s progress. It promises future to the present generation, provides opportunities for future. Enables the country competing with the outside world. Unfortunately Afghanistan has hit rock bottom with regard to education. There is no formal education policy, children are deprived of schools, very small percentage of children make it to high level. The infrastructure is totally devastated. Science and technology plays equal role towards the prosperity of the country and that is subject to excellence in the field of education, which unfortunately Afghanistan is lacking all over. The literacy rate floats between 15 to 25 percent with no major educational strength in the offing. The years of war, emergency, has caused this. Schools are in shackled state, they have been bombed, they have been used for emergency purposes. The teachers are not available in full strength. The facilities are not available the state of the art equipment and technology that is needed, is not available. Hence as a result the educational sector has a deep slump to it. Infrastructure development in form of roads, buildings, bridges, educational institutes, hospitals, schools, parks, recreational centers all these are needed for the development of a bright Afghanistan for future. Afghanistan can no longer afford any further wars. It has had share of its bad luck and it has to stop since colossal damage has already being done in every disciple of life. Communication channels establishment, empowerment of the masses, creating opportunities, the security establishment, all these are important for a stable Afghanistan in longer run. The regional partners need to contribute and pay a constructive role and stop the political intrigues. They should stop using Afghanistan as a buffer zone which suffers the most and is used for proxy purposes to fulfill their superior and ulterior agendas. World should come together and aim at creating a new Afghanistan that is free of suffering. Works cited: Alikuzai, Hamid Wahed. From Aryana-Khorasan to Afghanistan: Afghanistan History in 25 Volumes. Trafford Publishing, 2011. Clammer, Paul. Afghanistan: Edition en langue anglaise. Lonely Planet, 2007. Gladstone, Cary. Afghanistan Revisited. Nova Publishers, 2001. Kulke, Hermann and Dietmar Rothermund. A History of India. Routledge, 2004. Qureshi, Mohammad Abdulhai. Muslim Rule in Spain, Muslim Rule in India, Memories of Two Failures. AuthorHouse, 2011. Runion, Meredith L. The History of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Read More