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Showing posts with the label Historiography versus Afghan Nationalism.

Historiography versus Afghan Nationalism.

 Mohammed Daoud Kahn, President of Afghanistan between 1973 and 1978 Dominic Tweedie surprised me when he responded to the parallels I was drawing between the cartels in Mexico and the cartels in Afghanistan by dismissing them, implying that the narco-war was a sideshow and what was really happening was a nationalist uprising against foreign invaders, the USA and NATO. On a separate occasion, Dominic remarked that certain interpretations of history are completely ignored. For example, in the universities and think-tanks in the USA and Europe the key role played by the Cuban forces in the liberation of the Front Line States and the ending of Apartheid is simply not a useful idea. Modern mainstream historians, explained a colleague, have no illusions that there is anything scientific about history. They are aware that what they write is only worth writing if it furthers a political agenda. Modern history relies on thorough investigation, historiography and convincing narratives and