Warfare and Culture

A foreign military presence on Afghan soil was not a new phenomenon in the country's history. The novelty consisted of the lethal technology used by the government and its foreign ally, for the capability for disruption and destruction was exponentially greater than that of any previous invader. Different, too, was the goal of the government and its supporters, which included social revolution as well as physical disruption. Afghans exhibit flexibility and practicality in their adaptions. Why, then, has much of the male population elected to oppose a superpower with their vintage weapons?

In the past, Afghanistan has been invaded by powers with very different worldviews than indigenous Afghans. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism are, after all, not particularly similar to Islam. Nor has it been very long since part of the country was pagan, not Muslim. Why was it that the same Nuristanis who such a short time ago bitterly fought the imposition of Islam were among the first to rebel against the Marxist regime, even before the Soviets entered the country?

The answer lies both in the plasticity and enduring aspects of Afghan cultures. Social boundaries may be flexible and circumstantially defined, but they often divide hostile, feuding groups. Raiding and warfare are based on such divisions. The propensity to armed conflict along such social boundaries provides a cultural basis for armed opposition. 

By attempting to ameliorate women's position, by seeking to collectivize landholdings, by being reputedly anti-Muslim and atheist (although it has attempted to include Islam), and by attempting to extend government control, intentionally or unintentionally, the Afghan regime has attacked the few commonalities shared by all Afghans. If government policies were carried out, cultural and ecological adaptations would be disrupted. An overwhelming majority of the populace viewed the government's policies as inimical to a patrilineal, familial, tribal organization. Furthermore, the malleability of social boundaries has not fit in with the Soviets' own national minority policies, which have formalized ethnic boundaries. This has resulted in dividing groups that sometimes define themselves as different and sometimes define themselves as the same. The imposition of an alien ideology on Afghans has always stirred enormous resentment. The intrusion of a foreign power with an alien culture and with a history of imposing this culture on its own citizens belonging to the same groups as some of Afghanistan's residents mobilized sentiment even more forcefully.

The Soviet presence represented another invasion by a foreign power, yet there were differences. Previous invaders had imposed alien belief systems, but never had the entire country shared the same belief system. Islam could mobilize different groups to fight together because it formed part of every Afghans' personal identity. Furthermore, no previous invader or Afghan government had attempted to interfere with the fabric of Afghan ecological adaptation or to undermine the basis of family and tribal organization. The intense reaction of Afghans is understandable under these circumstances, and it is not unique in Afghan history. 

The reaction of the Nuristanis both to the imposition of Islam and to the perceived imposition of atheism represents a microcosm for the reaction of the entire country. It is not merely that Afghans have previously opposed domestic and foreign intrusions; it is that a power has never before angered all Afghans.

Louis Dupree's book, Afghanistan, represents the only anthropological overview of the entire country. It also provides the reader with an excellent initiation into the geography of the area. M. Nazif Shahrani's and Robert L. Canfield's edited volume, Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan, is essential for those wishing to understand events leading up to the revolution and the people's responses to them, as well as subsequent Afghan actions and reactions. As a book devoted to anthropological analysis of national political events, particularly on the local level, it is both unusual and extremely informative. Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan, by G. Whitney Azoy, presents a fascinating account of both the traditional Afghan horseman's game and the meaning and structure of Afghan political relations. Several excellent ethnographies of various Afghan groups exist. These include Shahrani's The Kirghiz and Wakhan of Afghanistan, Thomas J. Barfield's The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan, and Canfield's Faction and Conversion in a Plural Society: Religious Alignments in the Hindu Kush. (For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

This page maintained by Luke Griffin and last updated on 01/14/2002 .