Former Br5t5sh Prime Minister Winston Churchill, once famously said “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” It is to imply that history teaches us all a lesson that we must learn in order to be successful in future.
Afghanistan, though a landlocked state, has undoubtedly enjoyed an eminent strategic location because of being located at the crossroads of Asia, Middle East, and the Gulf. Because of its strategic location and proximity to the Arabian Sea, Afghanistan has been the battle ground of great-power rivalry for many centuries. Owing to its difficult terrain (harsh weather, barren land and scattered population), tricks of the popular guerilla-style fighting, and strong belief systems, Afghanistan came to be famously known as the graveyard of great empires. History is witness to the fact that the Afghans have not let the foreign powers to control their land no matter how powerful they were.
Be it the Soviets for spreading and preaching of Communism or Americans for the alleged war on terrorism – the superpowers of their times, had to retreat one by one from Afghanistan. They did not only end up unsuccessful in achieving their end goal, but also ended up losing precious lives, wealth, prestige and gained humiliation. As the history of Afghanistan reflects, it has now become obvious that the states that intervened in the internal matters of Afghanistan, whether to preach communism or seek regime change, faced more obstacles than benefits by interfering in the country and challenging the people’s values and belief system.
Afghan government and society is based on tribal cultural and conservative religious values. Afghanistan is a multiethnic country composed of several ethnic groups predominated by Pashtuns, with between 40 to 50 percent of the population. They do not compromise on their cultural and religious sentiments as they have resisted several foreign aggressions which tried to meddle with their religious and cultural values. Historically, the USSR and the USA had also tried their best to impose their will on Afghans with immense power and advanced technology of that time. However, after facing strong resistance from Afghans they were forced to wi-thdraw their forces from Afghanistan.
Samuel P. Huntington in his book Clash of Civilizations mentions that the West has always wanted to impose itd culture and ideology to prevail and dominate over other cultures. The USA tried undertaking the same in Afghanistan after analyzing Afghanistan’s strategic importance and the perceived US interests in the region. In this regard, Afghanistan gained top priority in US foreign policy leading to its involvement in Afghanistan on two different occasions. For the first time, it indirectly got involved against the USSR during the Cold War with an aim to curtail the communist ideology. The second time, following the September 11 attacks of 2001, the USA launched its war on terror against Al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist groups. In the first instance, the USA accomplished its interests by indirectly defeating the USSR but in the latter one even after the acclaimed death of Osama Bin Laden, the USA seemed to have fallen back almost empty-handed with immense monetary losses and strategic failures. The common factor in both times for Afghans was the foreign threat to their ideology, social and religious values. The USA faced defeat where it was fighting against the ideology and set of rules of the natives.
The main reason for the Afghans’ victory against both the USSR and the USA was their will and resilience to defend their popular socio-religious sentiments. The western powers, such as the USA and its NATO allies, failed to defeat the Taliban as they mistook the Taliban as an isolated group, not as having an ideology that enjoys massive public support. The popular domestic support for Taliban cannot be ruled out after all as they have successfully captured Afghanistan twice now, and that too without weapons as sophisticated as held by their adversaries.
The most important lesson that the world could learn from the example of foreign intervention in countries such as Afghanistan would be to give some consideration and acknowledgement to the cultural and religious sentiments of the local Afghans. A thorough study of world history speaks volumes about the devastating effects of interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. Prima facie each and every adventure of the great powers has proven to be detrimental to development and stability in Afghanistan. The invading country seems to have achieved its interests by exercising its physical might as per their will but on the contrary such adventures have brought even more severe consequences for the invading party.
After 9/11, the USA has spent two decades in Afghanistan and is quite familiar with Afghanistan’s dependence on foreign aid and assistance. Therefore, when the conventional military means have failed, the USA and its allies are now trying to compel the Taliban by using non-conventional tactics revolving around diplomacy and economy to bring the country to its knees. Earlier the USA froze the Afghan Central Bank’s assets worth $9.5 billion. Since Afghanistan is already facing a severe economic crisis, such economic sanctions could worsen the livelihood of common Afghans leading to mass migration within and across borders.
On the other hand, Pakistan needs to make political and diplomatic efforts towards the rest of world for recognizing the new Taliban regime or else, keeping in view the economic dependency of Afghanistan, it would have severe consequences in form of humanitarian crisis, terrorist activities, drug trafficking and so on. In consideration of the past lessons, Pakistan should also play a significant role wisely and avoid any clash with the popular sentiments of the Afghan people. Pakistan has an edge of sharing similar religious values with Afghans, so it would help Pakistan to achieve its interests in Afghanistan in a peaceful and more shielded way.
It appears that the big powers, such as the USA, in recent times have not learnt from its past mistakes and adventures in other countries by forsaking natives’ values, belief systems as well as their development. On the other hand, Pakistan is an immediate neighbor of Afghanistan and does not have the luxury to self-isolate and abandon its neighbor on a whim and has to make a two-way effort as a mediator between ‘The Taliban’ and the ‘West’.
On the one hand, Pakistan should engage with the Taliban and try to generate a sense of realization regarding the importance of bringing inclusivity. Through moderate religious scholars and intelligentsia, the Taliban should also be compelled to consider a balanced approach regarding women’s role in political and domestic affairs which is the most prior task to sustain development in the modern world.
On the other hand, Pakistan needs to make political and diplomatic efforts towards the rest of world for recognizing the new Taliban regime or else, keeping in view the economic dependency of Afghanistan, it would have severe consequences in form of humanitarian crisis, terrorist activities, drug trafficking and so on. In consideration of the past lessons, Pakistan should also play a significant role wisely and avoid any clash with the popular sentiments of the Afghan people. Pakistan has an edge of sharing similar religious values with Afghans, so it would help Pakistan to achieve its interests in Afghanistan in a peaceful and more shielded way.
