Historical Background
An area of almost 653 thousand square meters, located in the territories of Southwest Asia, historically belongs to the state of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has no access to the sea or the ocean and is adjacent to other states from all sides. Thus, the country’s western borders are connected with Iran and Turkmenistan; to the north, it is adjacent to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. On the southeastern side, Afghanistan is entirely bordered by Pakistan from the Gulf of Oman. Notably, the entire area of the state is located in the Iranian highlands, so much of the region is represented by mountainous and hilly terrain (Allchin, 2021). The Hindu Kush mountain system is the most represented there, as its hills, up to 7708 meters high, extend from east to west of the country. However, this does not mean that there are no plains there. On the contrary, to the north of the country, close to Tajikistan, Afghanistan has the Bactrian Plain, which contains a unique geographic area in the form of an extension of the clay-sandy Karakum desert. There are also mountainous depressions and valleys along other borders of the country, representing valuable clay and sand resources for the population.
Geographical reasons fully determine the local climatic conditions, the impact of which is clearly visible in the Afghan vegetation. Thus, the climate there is typical subtropical continental, with the predominance of monsoon winds. In the summertime, the weather is usually hot and dry, but the local conditions rarely become cold with the onset of winter. Afghan summer temperatures can reach 122 ℉ while temperatures rarely drop below freezing in January (Allchin, 2021). While winters on the eastern side of Afghanistan are primarily cold, closer to the north and south, temperatures tend to be more comfortable and warmer. Most of the rainfall occurs during the winter and spring. At the same time, all river systems and lakes present in Afghanistan are brainless. This means that there is no system of underwater connections, and any flow of water is mainly related to its surface evaporation. As a consequence of a combination of climatic and geographic factors, the local flora is mainly characterized by aridity. Desert landscapes of the country, uniquely combined with mountainous terrain, give the country a large number of herbaceous plants, including cereals, legumes, and other flowering crops.
Afghanistan is, first of all, a country with rich ancient history. Paleontological discoveries suggest that Afghanistan appears to be more than five thousand years old, and some argue that it was inhabited as far back as the late Paleolithic period (Allchin, 2021). The extended history becomes the reason for the wide variety of nationalities that inhabit Afghanistan. The largest populations here include Pashtuns (42%), Tajiks (28%), Hazaras (10%), Uzbeks (8%), Charaimaks (2.6%), Turkmen (2%), and other underrepresented nationalities, including Arabs, Mongols, and Kazakhs (AFP, 2021). Multi-ethnicity is the reason for the bilingual and trilingual nature of the local population: Afghans are generally fluent in Afghan and Persian, both of which belong to the Indo-European family of languages. As of 2021, Afghanistan’s population was 40 million before the events of the Afghan August (WPR, 2021). This diversity of multi-ethnic communities is reflected in the cultural and religious code.
For example, most Afghans are typical Sunni orthodox Islamists. Among such followers, militancy, and bloody revenge, uniquely combined with hospitality, is often prevalent. The classical role of women as submissive mothers and faithful wives is also derived from this (Onsutti, 2019). In a sense, we can point out that Islam for contemporary Afghanistan is the bridge that connects disparate nationalities and smoothes out conflicts. Alternative religions are poorly represented and discouraged there: conversion to Christianity is punishable by death, and both Hinduism and Protestantism are prosecuted.
Groups Represented in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s political life is associated with American and Soviet intervention, jihad, and terrorism. It might seem that the territory is the home of all terrorists, but that is not the case. By now, the fundamental religious and political groups fighting for power in Afghanistan are the Taliban, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Northern Resistance, which have weakened noticeably since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan (Wolf, 2021). It should be said that until August 15, 2021, when the country finally came under Taliban rule, Afghanistan professed a republican way with its president and constitution. Although there was an ongoing civil war in the country, Afghanistan was gradually moving away from the vector of Islamic radicalism and allowing more civil rights to the population.
With the arrival of the Taliban, most of the reforms and gains of the last decade had already been reversed, and the progress made toward recognizing women’s rights and minorities had been erased. The classical Taliban movement is fundamentalist: their primary function is to inculcate in the Afghan people the formerly rigid order of Islam, with a strong recognition of clan ties and the five pillars of Islam. The Taliban has extreme political ambitions, as the seizure of power and the restructuring of the state require severe political initiatives from the group. ISIS may appear to be an ally of the Taliban since, from the outside, it gives the impression that the two groups have similar goals. Some similarities in functions do not guarantee a partnership, as the Taliban and ISIS are officially considered adversaries. The first mission of ISIS supporters apparently began in 2014 with Pakistan, when representatives promoted joining (Nazish, 2014). A year later, having reached the peak of their geopolitical influence, ISIS leaders officially announced their entry into Afghanistan as an adapted Wilayat Khorasan movement (Paybarah, 2021). ISIS’s Afghan representation was based on refugees and migrants from Pakistan who took advantage of the hospitality of the Afghan people. Over time, ISIS Afghanistan grew in political and religious power, and the U.S., then still present in Afghanistan, facilitated the removal of key figures in the movement (Morgan, 2020). Unofficially, but in fact, it was an act of cooperation between the U.S. military and the Taliban to eliminate a common serious enemy. Ultimately, the Afghan ISIS was defeated, and the leaders were either executed or imprisoned. Meanwhile, on August 26, 2021, ISIS claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport as thousands of refugees attempted to flee the country (Hubbard et al., 2021). The Taliban authorities reacted negatively to this act and executed the imprisoned ISIS members.
Al-Qaida is also a representative of the Islamic terrorist organization present in Afghanistan, but the goals of this movement are different from the Taliban. Al-Qaida is known to have its origins in Bin Laden, a hardline, militant advocate (Wright, 2021). Al-Qaida is one of the harshest and most radical organizations: its members practice Wahhabism. Among the goals of this movement is the elimination of the Taliban, the spread of radical Islamism, and the formation of a worldwide caliphate. Thus, al-Qaida also has political ambitions, and their functions are more linked to the religious mission of Islam. Moreover, the creation of the Northern Alliance was triggered by the defeat of Afghan fighters by the Taliban regime in 1996, as a result of which the leaders of the fighting Afghans occupied northern territories of the country. The Northern Alliance sees the Taliban as a direct enemy, so the movement is enlisting the support of Western countries to fight the Taliban regime. There are reports that the Northern Alliance has close contact with the U.S. CIA, but the authenticity of this data is questionable. After 9/11, the power of the Northern Alliance declined rapidly and disappeared altogether with the end of the Taliban regime (Wolf, 2021). However, alliance sentiment persists in Afghanistan, and many people have not given up hope that the Northern Alliance will be revived and will be able to fight the Taliban effectively.
References
AFP. (2021). Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity and the role it plays in its politics. SCMP.
Allchin, F. R. (2021). Afghanistan. The Britannica.
Hubbard, B., Schmitt, E., & Rosenberg, M. (2021). After decades of war, ISIS and Al Qaeda can still wreak Havoc. NY Times. Web.
Morgan, W. (2020). Our secret Taliban air force. The Washington Post.
Nazish, K. (2014). The Islamic State is spreading into Pakistan. New Republic.
Onsutti, A. L. M. (2019).Afghanistan. Countries and Their Cultures.
Paybarah, A. (2020). What is the Islamic State Khorasan, a.k.a. ISIS-K? NY Times.
Wolf, Z. B. (2020). Here are the groups vying for power in Afghanistan. CNN.
WPR. (2021). Afghanistan population (Live). WPR.
Wright, R. (2021). Afghanistan, again, becomes a cradle for Jihadism – and Al Qaeda. The New Yorker.