Economic Development (Afghanistan)

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South Asia that is rated as the world’s least developed country. The country is developing and has endured economic stagnation as a result of political insecurity and a lack of land reforms, which have contributed to poverty, food insecurity, and violence. Afghanistan shares borders with China, Pakistan, and Iran, among other Asian countries with a better economic index and political stability. Afghanistan’s geography is arid, with hot and dry summers and snowy winters. Pastoral nomadism and irrigation are the main ways of living. The population of Afghanistan is estimated at 33 million, and more than 80% of the citizens live in rural areas. The demographics of the nation are composed of multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, and the largest ethnic group is the Pashtun. Approximately 47% of the Afghanistan population is young people under the age of 15 years (Barfield 67). The main reasons why the country is still developing until today is the high infant mortality rates, overwhelming marginalization of women, both internal and external wars, reliance on illegal activities, high illiteracy rates, corruption, high poverty and environmental degradation.

The political system of Afghanistan is a unitary presidential Islamic nation, and since its independence from the Great Britain in 1919, the country has struggled both politically and economically due to its landlocked nature and having to rely on the external flow of goods and services. Over the last decade, Afghanistan has experienced a volatile economic growth where construction and agriculture remain the main contributors to the economy. However, the political insecurity and uncertainty have rendered the efforts to expand the economy futile. In addition, the rule of law in the country remains fragile, and this has led to lack of confidence by the citizens. The inability of the government to even deliver essential services have led to the failure of banking systems, courts and other sectors of the economy.

War

Soviet-Afghan War

The attack of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in 1979, the primary goal was to help the Afghan communist forces to set a communist government. The Soviet Union believed the Afghanistan had the critical resources in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. However, the results of the invasion led to war against the Mujahideen resistance forces. Supported by the United States, the mujahideen rebellion expanded and grew in many parts of the country. The increase in power of the mujahideen proved too powerful for the Afghan army, and the Soviets took charge deploying more than 100,000 troops to control the major cities and towns of the nation. Most of the war between the Soviet soldier and the mujahideen took place in the mountains with the soviet army suing helicopters to try to lure the resistance forces out of the mountains. However, the mujahideen used the mountains as spots to hide and employ the guerrilla tactics to defend themselves against the Soviet troops. The soviet army used different methods such as bombing citizens near the mountains to ensure they cut off the connection with the mujahideen but this failed since many Afghanistan citizens fled to neighboring nations such as Pakistan and Iran. Mujahideen gained the upper hand in the war after receiving missiles from the United States through Pakistan and other support from Muslim groups.

War on Terror and Taliban

The war on Terror in Afghanistan began after the 9-11 attacks in the United States after the Afghanistan refuse to give up Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Landen who was responsible for the attack. Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996 with the help of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Urban 25). However, the global nation did not recognize the Taliban emirates because their policies were considered intolerable due to inadequate treatment of women and support of terrorism.

Textbook Facts and proposals

The political system of Afghanistan has experienced radical changes since the last few decades. The nation has undergone many invasions and war against the Soviet Union and the United States in the fight against terrorism and resistance movements including Taliban. After the action of the Soviet Union, the political system of the country changed and became totalitarian regime under the Islamic group, Taliban (Gaston and Dang 78). With the help of the NATO coalition and the Afghanistan government, after the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Taliban have defeated the Afghanistan political system adapter a more democratic state resembling a pro-western democratically elected government.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Afghanistan is 64.08 billion US dollars, and the economy is the 108th largest in the world. The economy is poor due to the consistent war, and people live in poverty without access to basic needs and health services. In addition, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), rankings, the Afghanistan economy is worse regarding GDP per capita, which is ranked 167th out of 186 countries. The Gross National Income (GNI) of Afghanistan is 65.77 billion PPP dollars in 2016 and both the political and economic system are improvements after the Afghanistan government acquired more control of the country after the end of the war in 2014.

Land Reforms

Over the years, the land rights in Afghanistan have been governed by conflicting legal systems such as sharia laws, civil and informal policies which have led to poor land management, lack of investments and food insecurity. Most parts of Afghanistan are arid and desert and covered with mountains; this prompts for land reforms as an economic doctrine to improve the economy of the nation and open up more agricultural practices in the country. The land reform in Afghanistan (LARA) seek to ensure a robust investment area and increase confidence in the Afghan government and building the economy that will attract more investors both local and foreign. The land reforms as a policy work hand in hand with other Afghan ministries that supports land tenure such as agriculture and irrigations board to ensure a successful implementation, design and management of land market development (Nojumi 37). In addition, the land reforms will help Afghanistan deal with the issue of land grabbing and discrimination of women and minorities from the land administration. The lack of formal settlement has led to the loss of taxes and causes a stagnant growth in the economy. This has made the nation remain a developing nation up to date. A land reform policy will help in expanding growth and development of major cities and towns increasing investment and jobs creation.

Minerals

Afghanistan is rich in natural resources and has more than 1400 minerals such as copper, gold and lithium, enough to alter the economy of the nation. The different metals identified in Afghanistan have a high demand in western hemisphere a good governance and processing of the materials may help alleviate the problem in the nation such as the extreme poverty. Research shows that the mineral deposits are worth over 3 million US dollars and may turn Afghanistan to be one of the mining centers in the world.

Trade with Western Hemisphere

Free trade between Afghanistan and its neighboring nations such as Pakistan and China and other western hemispheres will aid in improving the economy, which is among the poorest in the world. Afghanistan joining the World Trade Organization (WHO) will strengthen its economy, which has long suffered from hands of world superpowers such as United States, Russia and Great Britain. However, globalization is a new and developing concept in Afghanistan, and it will help in reviving the economy and alleviate the poverty that is deep-rooted in rural areas. With over 70% of the population leaving in the rural areas, the growth of agricultural sector will increase the importation of product with western hemisphere and boost the economy (Gibson 31). In addition, Afghanistan is rich with natural resources such as oil and minerals, which are properly managed, can improve the GDP and GNI of the nation and upgrade from being a member of the least developed country in the world.

On the other side, trade of resources with the western hemisphere can have negative impacts on the economy of Afghanistan. Today, the concept of globalization is limited in the region and their product has not qualified for the international market. The Afghanistan government should first ensure they appreciate they own product by applying import tariffs on the foreign goods to provide the people consumed their local goods and used to create job opportunities. Strengthening Afghanistan economy by appreciating their product is the best way to revive the economy and protecting the domestic industries and companies from external competition. Although globalization is healthy and opens up doors for foreign investment and more goods and services, it can be detrimental to a developing country such as Afghanistan, which has products that cannot compete in the international market.

Reforms and Protectionism

The violence and wars present in Afghanistan call for reforms to end the political turmoil in the region that have paralyzed the economy for years. The changes include the management of the natural resources well and avoid the corruption that has led to wastage of public funds and resources. Besides, Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished nation in the world and requires many reforms from land tenure reforms, trade reforms and government reform to embark on creating job employment and eradicating poverty. Moreover, Afghanistan government which have a protectionist policy to protect the local industries from international competition. The goods and services produced in the nation cannot compete in the global market. Therefore, reforms on the tariffs and protectionism will help appreciate the local products and creates jobs that will help reduce poverty and boost economic growth and development.

Works Cited

Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: A cultural and political history. Princeton University Press, 2010.

Gaston, E. L., and Lillian Dang. Addressing land conflict in Afghanistan. US Institute of Peace, 2015.

Gibson, Nigel C. “Afghanistan, Globalization, and Drugs.” Globalizing Afghanistan: Terrorism, War, and the Rhetoric of Nation Building (2011): 31.

Girardet, Ed. Afghanistan: The Soviet War. Routledge, 2012.

Nojumi, Neamatollah. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass mobilization, civil war, and the future of the region. Springer, 2016.

Urban, Mark. War in Afghanistan. Springer, 2016.