Thomas Jefferson Barfield Knihy

This work explores the historic struggles and evolving political authority in Afghanistan, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban's resurgence today. The author introduces the complex tapestry of tribal and ethnic groups, highlighting what unites them as Afghans despite their regional and cultural differences. Governing these diverse peoples was manageable when power rested with a small elite, but this order deteriorated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as rulers mobilized rural militias to expel the British and Soviets. While armed insurgency successfully resisted foreign occupiers, it simultaneously weakened the Afghan government's authority, complicating governance over time. The narrative vividly illustrates how internal factions led to civil war, the rise of Taliban rule, and Afghanistan's global isolation. It also analyzes the rapid U.S. invasion post-September 11, which swiftly toppled the Taliban, misleading the U.S. into believing that establishing a viable state would be similarly straightforward. This examination is crucial for understanding how Afghanistan, long dominated by foreign powers, became a graveyard for empires and offers insights into what the U.S. must do to avoid a similar fate.

Designed to become the standard reference guide to the discipline of social and cultural anthropology, this dictionary consists of substantial analytical articles focusing on key anthropological concepts, theories and methodologies. It draws on contributions from some 120 distinguished American and British anthropologists.

This work traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. The author introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. He describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. He examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. This book helps the reader understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the "graveyard of empires" for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate