Afghanistan : Government and Politics

Contents: Preface. Afghanistan: an introduction. I. Historical background: 1. The geography and history of Afghanistan/Sirdar Iqbal Ali Shah. 2. British relations with Afghanistan from 1855 to 1869/H.B. Hanna. 3. Kabul/A.C. Jewett. II. Soviet intervention: 4. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan: a Third World perspective/Iftekharuzzaman. 5. Resistance movement in Afghanistan (1979-81)/Mahfooz Ahmad. 6. Resistance in Afghanistan: the Panjshir model/Rahimullah Yusufzai. 7. Sovietization of Afghan society/Naseem Rizvi. III. Post-Soviet Afghanistan: 8. Afghanistan: Soviet withdrawal and after/Mohammad Humayun Kabir. 9. Post-Communist Afghanistan: implications, challenges and prospects for a new order/Mohammad Humayun Kabir and Abu Taher Salahuddin Ahmed. 10. Peace-keeping and reconciliation in Afghanistan/Mahmoud Mesteri. 11. Afghanistan: power struggle among the rival groups/Mansoor Akbar Kundi. 12. Changing matrix of Afghan conflict/P. Stobdan. 13. The Taliban factor in the ongoing Afghan Civil War/Sreedhar. IV. Afghanistan and the international community: 14. US policy towards Afghanistan/Chintamani Mahapatra. 15. India’s options in Afghanistan/R.S. Chauhan. 16. The Afghan Civil War: Pakistan re-asserts while India ignores/Aabha Dixit. 17. The landlocked state of Afghanistan/Verinder Grover. Documents: 1. Draft instructions to Colonel F.J. Goldsmid, dated India Office, London, 9 August, 1870. 2. Seistan arbitration. 3. Instructions to Major-General Sir Peter S. Lumsden, K.C.B., C.S.I. 4. The protocol of 1885. 5. Demarcation of the north-west frontier of Afghanistan protocol No. 4. 6. Relevant section of instructions to his excellency general Sir Frederick Sleigh, Lord Roberts of Kandahar, G.C.B., G.C.I.E., V.C.R.A. the Commander-in-Chief in India. 7. Relevant sections of the ‘Durand Agreement’—1893. 8. Letter from Sir Mortimer Durand, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., to his highness the Amir of Afghanistan and its dependencies dated Kabul, the 11 November, 1893. 9. Afghanistan Soviet Union treaty: 28 February, 1921. 10. Afghan-Soviet treaty of neutrality and non-aggression, 1926. 11. Text of the agreement between the United states of America and the Kingdom of Afghanistan in regard to friendship, diplomatic and Consular representation, juridical protection and commercial relations. 12. Constitution of Afghanistan. 13. The treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation, 5 December, 1978. 14. The fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. 15. Statement by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on Afghanistan, February 8, 1988. 16. Statement by President Najibullah, February 8, 1988. 17. Text of Afghan peace agreement signed at Islamabad. 18. The dynasty of the Durranis (the Sadozai family). Select bibliography. Index.

"The Islamic State of Afghanistan is a land-locked country in south-western Asia. Its neighbours are Turkemenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the north, Iran to the west, the People’s Republic of China to the north-east and Pakistan to the east and south.

The last King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, reigned from 1933 to 1973. In July 1973, while King Zahir Shah was in Italy, the monarchy was overthrown by a coup in which the main figure was the former Prime Minister, General Daud. The 1964 constitution was renounced and Afghanistan was declared a republic.

Since then there has been continuous civil war between the government and rebel Moslem forces, resulting in killings and coups. In December 1979 Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

The Soviet intervention came to an end with the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in early 1989. The Soviet withdrawal, however, did not end the political uncertainty dogging the politics of Afghanistan. In 1994 a newly formed militant Islamic movement "Taliban’ started taking possession of Afghanistan. On 26 September 1996 Taliban forces set up an interim Government under Mohammed Rabbani and Afghanistan was declared a complete Islamic state under Sharia law.

The present book is divided into five parts. Part 1 is an introduction to the State of Afghanistan; Part II gives the historical background of the country; Part III throws light on Occupation of Afghanistan by the erstwhile Soviet Union; Part IV studies the Post-Soviet Scenario; Part V is concerned with the Afghanistan’s relations with the international community." (jacket)