First, there’s the Euro-centric perspective that always bring up defeats of European forces. This includes the Soviet-Afghan war, the Anglo-Afghan Wars and, for the historically challenged, Alexander the Great (there is a little history in between these events worth reading). And then there is the perspective that claims Afghanistan is, and has throughout history, been “backwards.” And then there are people from all other parts of the political spectrum who have read a couple of books (probably “popular” histories) and then decided they should expound on Afghan history to bolster their arguments. To emphasize, one is missing massive chunks of history if confined to the narrow perspectives above.
These stereotypes, many bordering on racism, form the bedrock of much of what passes as commentary. I don't intend to turn myself into an expert on Afghan history, but surely it isn't asking too much for those who get paid to turn out opinion pieces on issues on which lives depend to engage in a little basic scholarship? Then again ...
4 comments:
The "there are people from all other parts of the political spectrum who have read a couple of books" is probably more accurately summed up by "there are people from all other parts of the political spectrum who have glanced through the Wikipedia entry on Afghanistan (or whatever else the topic at hand is)".
Thanks for the link. A current article about misreading the history of British campaigns in Afghanistan on the BBC News site also seems surprisingly good.
Thanks for the link, Peter. I did struggle with this blogger's writing style; to much the 'disc jockey' for me. He dismisses 'popular' histories rather sneeringly, but Peter Hopkirk's series of books was helpful (with full bibliographies) and he concentrates nearly exclusively on U.S.-centric sources.
The British Library's stunning "The Silk Roads" exhibition (free entry!) a couple of years ago was my introduction into the complexities of the region in which Afghanistan is located and the dazzling history of central Asia, of which I was largely ignorant. It is interesting in this connection to remember that the Taliban ("resistance" – B.B.C.) took pains to destroy evidence of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic and non-Islamic heritage, spectacularly so in the case of the Buddhas of Bamyan.
The author of that post, Christian Bleuer, is as good as it gets. He's also one of ours, so to speak. He's from just over the mountains; he's a Pemberton boy, and the Canada Afghanistan Solidarity Committee turns to his work for guidance and counsel. The website is terrific as well. Keep an eye out for anything Josh Foust writes.everad
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