68 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
68 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
**Socialist Afghanistan**, officially the **Democratic Republic of
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Afghanistan** refers to a period of the history of
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[Afghanistan](Afghanistan "wikilink") (1978 - 1992) in which the country
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was run in an [authoritarian
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socialist](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink") manner. The government
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struggled massively with a civil war against
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[US-backed](Timeline_of_US_Hegemony "wikilink")
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[far-right](Right-Wing_Politics "wikilink")
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[Islamist](Islamism "wikilink") groups and [Maoists](Maoism "wikilink").
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## Analysis
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### Positives
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- The major positive action of socialist Afghanistan was the
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[expansion of women's rights](Feminism "wikilink"). Forced marriages
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were banned, women and girls were encouraged to work and get an
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education and legal equality between the
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[sexes](Sex_\(Biology\) "wikilink") was introduced. Numerous women
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also held high positions in the Afghani government.
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### Negatives
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- The government ultimately failed to withstand an imperialist
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onslaught and internal uprisings led by reactionary and conservative
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forces, as well as some on the left.
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- In 1979, the government carried out a disastrous effort at land
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reform, it was extremely unpopular and agricultural productivity
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plummeted.
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- The plans for industrial development in the late 1980s were
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extremely unsuccessful, promising 25% economic growth a year, but
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only reaching 2%. Although how much of this can be attributed to
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poor government planning policies vs the civil war is up for debate.
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- Despite widespread literacy campaigns, the government failed to
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reduce illiteracy by much, in contrast to most other socialist
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societies.
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- The government created a new climate of repression that even alarmed
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the [USSR](USSR "wikilink").\[1\]
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- The government suffered a massive amount of infighting and debate
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between moderates and radicals.
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### Lessons for the Future
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- The authoritarian socialists are wrong, top-down governments and
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militaries are not sufficient to defend a socialist society from
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counter-revolutionaries and imperialist aggression. Even with the
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help of the USSR, the government failed to stop the
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counter-revolution, [with disastrous results for the people of
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Afghanistan](Afghani_Civil_War_\(1978_-_Present\) "wikilink").
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- Central planning is not necessarily good at managing a wartime
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economy, [especially in contrast to other wartime experiments of
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libertarian socialism which even saw living standards
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improve](Revolutionary_Spain "wikilink").
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- Land reform done by authoritarian socialists is a disaster.
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## Major Social Struggles
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- 1979: [Herat Uprising](Herat_Uprising_\(1979\) "wikilink")
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- 1979: [Bala Hissar
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Uprising](Bala_Hissar_Uprising_\(1979\) "wikilink")
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## References
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[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [Democratic Republic of
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Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistan)
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1. \~ Robert D. Kaplan (1990) - *Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors
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in Afghanistan and Pakistan*, pages 115 - 116 |