The cultural basis of Afghan nationalism

Abstract

Aims to present a portrait of contemporary Afghanistan that stresses cultural and religious factors as well as political and military ones to provide a context for interpreting the Afghan refugee problem both internally and in terms of its impact on neighbouring states. Seventeen contributors give perspectives on the country and its people, with particular stress on the refugee problem and its import for Pakistan. The volume is in five parts: a prologue outlines the history of migration in Islamic tradition and the international law on refugees; the second part contains six papers on Afghan society (eg social reform, ethnicity, intellectuals, nomads); the third part is concerned with the refugees in Pakistan (7 papers) part five looks at the military/political context (Pakistan, the USSR, and the geopolitical context of the refugees); and the epilogue explores the possible future for Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal. -M.Amos