Analysis of the Intra-State Conflict in Afghanistan

Afganistan, 1979 Aralık'ındaki Sovyet istilasından bu yana uluslararası ihtilafın merkezi olmuştur.  Yabancı askerlerin yıllara kadar Afganistan’da bulunması, oradaki farklı etkin gruplar arasındaki çatışmalara yol açtı. Sovyetlerin geri çekilmesi hiçbir şekilde Afgan ihtilafının sona ermesine sebep olamadı. Aksine bu bir güç boşluğuna ardından Taliban'ın ortaya çıkmasına neden oldu. Sovyetlerin geri çekilmesi Afganistan'daki devlet içi çatışmayı ve dış aktörlerin katılımını arttırdı. Dış aktörlerin katılımı, devlet içi çatışmayı daha da yoğunlaştırdı ve aynı, 1996'ya kadar devam etti. Taliban'ın yükselişiyle Afganistan, kısa zamanlık bir tür istikrar gördü. Sovyet istilası ve iç savaş çoktan milislere yol açmıştı. Bu miliseler sürekli olarak Taliban’la savaş halinde olduğundan Afganistan da huzuru görmedi. Taliban hükümeti de seçilmiş bir hükümet olmadığından zorlukların artması tabiî idi. Böylece çatışmalar 2001 yılına kadar devam etti.  ABD’ye yapılan 9/11 terörist saldırının ardından Afganistan’daki çatışma yeni bir hal aldı. ABD, Taliban hükümetini yerinden etmek için Afganistan'a müdahale etti ve terörle mücadeleye başladı. Yine, Afganistan'da uluslararası aktörlerin yoğun sayısı yer aldı. Birleşmiş Milletler, NATO, Pakistan, İran, Hindistan, Türkiye, vs. hepsi Afganistan’da kendi etkisini arttırmak çabasında olduğundan Afganistan sorunu daha da büyümektedir.

Analysis of the Intra-State Conflict in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been the hotbed of the international conflict since the Soviet invasion in December 1979. The decade long foreign troop presence mainly initiated the conflict within the different communities in Afghanistan. the withdrawal of the Soviets in no way marked the end of the Afghan conflict. With the Soviet withdrawal gave rise to a power vacuum and then the Taliban. The withdrawal of the Soviets intensified the intra-state conflict in Afghanistan and also the involvement of the external actors. The involvement of the external actors further intensified the intra-state conflict and the same continued till 1996. Afghanistan witnessed a kind of a stability for a brief period with the rise of the Taliban. The Soviet invasion and the civil war had already given rise to multiple militias and they continuously engaged the Taliban government/forces, and Afghanistan never saw the peace. The Taliban government too was not elected, so the challenges were bound to rise. The conflict continued till 2001. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, the conflict in Afghanistan took a new turn. US intervened in Afghanistan to dislodge the Taliban government and started the war on terror. Again, number of international actors fiercely got involved in Afghanistan. The United Nations, the NATO, Pakistan, Iran, India, Turkey, etc. all are now involved in the race for dominating Afghanistan, which further intensified the conflict in Afghanistan.

___

  • Afghanistan: 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), February 15, 2018, https://unama.unmissions.org/afghanistan-10000-civilian-casualties-2017-un-report-suicide-attacks-and-ieds-caused-high-number (Accessed: 20.07.2019).
  • Aljazeera Afghan civilian casualties at record high in 2016: UN. February 06, 2017, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/afghan-civilian-casualties-2016-170206062807210.html (Accessed: 20.07.2019).
  • Australian Government, “Afghanistan: Political Parties and Insurgent Groups 1978-2001,” Migration Review Tribunal-Refugee Review Tribunal, March 7, 2013, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1154721/1226_1369733568_ppig1.pdf (Accessed: 29.04. 2019).
  • Brisson, Katherine. "International Intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia from the 1990s Through the 2000's" Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects. 1004. (2017): 22. https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1004 (Accessed: 13.03. 2019).
  • Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Chessboard, American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. (United States: Basic Books, 1997), 7.
  • ___________, “Afghanistan in 1995: Civil War and a Mini-Great Game,” Asian Survey 36, no. 2, (February 1996): 190-195.
  • Butt, Khalid Manzoor, Siddqi, Azhar Javed. “Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations from 1978 to 2001: An Analysis,” South Asian Studies 31, no. 2, (July—December 2016): 723-744.
  • Civilian deaths from Afghan conflict in 2018 at highest recorded level-UN report: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), February 24, 2019, https://unama.unmissions.org/civilian-deaths-afghan-conflict-2018-highest-recorded-level-%E2%80%93-un-report (Accessed: 2007.2019).
  • Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Hard Choices (London: Simon and Schuster, 2014), 164.
  • Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (London: Penguin Books, 2005), 46.
  • Compartim, Programa. Conflict Mapping: Theory and Methodology, Practical Application in Juvenile Justice (Department of Justicia, 2014), 20.
  • Dixit, Aabha. “The Afghan Civil War: Emergence of the Taliban as Power Broker,” South Asian Survey 2, no. 1, (1995): 111-118.
  • Durant, Will. “Civil War in Afghanistan.” www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/publications/se/6507/650706.html (Accessed: 27.04.2019).
  • Friedman, George. “The 30-Year War in Afghanistan,” Geopolitical Weekly (Stratfor), June 29, 2010, https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/30-year-war-afghanistan (Accessed: 06.05. 2019).
  • Gall, Carlotta. The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan 2001-2014 (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 242-243.
  • Hilali, A. Z. US Pakistan Relationship: Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Great Britain: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005), 70.
  • Huria, Sonali. “Failed States and Foreign Military Intervention: The Afghanistan Imbroglio,” IPCS Special Report, no. 67 (2009).
  • Katzman, Kenneth. “Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy,” CRS Report for US Congress,” (March 25, 2004), 9.
  • Khalilzad, Zalmay. “Afghanistan in 1994: Civil War and Disintegration,” Asian Survey 35, no. 2, (February 1995): 147-152.
  • Maass, Citha D. “The Afghanistan Conflict: External Involvement,” Central Asian Survey 18, no. 1 (1999): 65-78.
  • Matinuddin, Kamal. The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994-1997 (New Delhi: Lancer Publishers, 2000), 12.
  • National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, “9/11 Commission Report,” p. 330, https://9-11commission.gov/report/ (Accessed: 10.05.2019).
  • NATO Chicago Summit Declaration on Afghanistan, May 21, 2012, www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_87595.htm (Accessed: 18.07.2019).
  • NATO Lisbon Summit Declaration, November 20, 2010, www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_68828.htm (Accessed: 18.07.2019).
  • NATO Wales Summit Declaration, September 5, 2014, www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_112964.htm (Accessed: 19.06.2019).
  • Nojumi, Neamatollah. The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region (New York: Palgrave, 2002), 97.
  • Paliwal, Avinash. “New Alignments, Old Battlefield: Revisiting India’s Role in Afghanistan,” Carnegie India, June 15, 2017, https://carnegieindia.org/2017/06/15/new-alignments-old-battlefield-revisiting-india-s-role-in-afghanistan-pub-71272 (Accessed: 02.05. 2019).
  • Reuveny, Rafael. and Prakash, Aseem. “The Afghanistan war and the Breakdown of the Soviet Union,” Review of International Studies 24, no. 04, (October 1999): 693-708.
  • Shroder, John F. Natural Resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and Geologic Perspectives on Centuries of Conflict (USA: Elsevier, 2014), 10.
  • Tarzi, Shah M. “Afghanistan in 1992: A Hobbesian State of Nature,” Asian Survey 33, no. 2, (February 1993): 165-174.
  • Wildman, David and Bennis, Phyllis. “The War in Afghanistan Goes Global,” Critical Asian Studies 42, no. 3 (2010): 469-480.
  • Yegorov, Oleg. “Why did the USSR enter Afghanistan,” Russia Beyond, February 05, 2019. https://www.rbth.com/history/329948-why-did-ussr-enter-afghanistan-war (Accessed: 09.07.2019).
  • Yilmaz, Muzaffer Ercan. “Intra-State Conflicts in the Post-Cold War Era,” International Journal on World Peace 24, no. 4, (December 2007): 11-33.