Afghanistan: the rise of ethnic consciousness through history; a comprehensive overview of the origin of the Afghan conflict

Abstract

"The ethnic groups that compose the fabric of Afghanistan are little known outside of Central Asian. International news reports have a knack for using "Afghan" as a metonymy for Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara, just a few of Afghanistan's many ethnic groups. Such generalizations desensitize and ignore the root of Afghanistan's decade long conflict: ethnic divisions. During the Afghan Civil War, ethnic groups fought for regional power in a conflict that left millions dead and set the precedence for the rise and eventual takeover of the Taliban. Ethnic division, however, didn’t emerge in the 90s when the civil war took place, but rather, had always been an undeniable theme in Afghan history. From the reign of the Durranis to the Communist regime, ethnicity was a recurring motif. This research paper will explore the factors that shaped Afghanistan’s ethnic divisions by paralleling the rise of the Afghan ethnic consciousness with the rise of the Afghan state." (author's abstract)