Afghanistan and Central Asia
...l relationship between the Soviet Union and various other countries was an expansionary one. The Soviet Union wanted to impose their rule on everyone in order to make their military stronghold even stronger. In World War II the Soviet Union truly emerged as a super power. Everyone saw the strength of their army and the rigid government that worked so well. Once the Cold War started this became even more evident because the United States was playing catch up to the Soviet Union in many technological and military advances. While in the Soviet Union any uprisings against communism were crushed to the fullest extent. No one was permitted to speak against communism and if you did you should not expect to be around very long. The different ethnic countries that were encompassed in the Soviet Union were also in harmony thanks in large part to the different status each republic received while in the U.S.S.R. After two centuries of stability it came to end with the crumble of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. Once democracy came into play numerous problems that were suppressed during the time of the Soviet Union emerged. Several ethnic conflicts arouse in the area creating numerous civil wars. “Central Asia and the Caucasus have had their share of such conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in the birth, or rebirth, of eight new states: …, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia” (Conflict in Post-Soviet Transitions 4) .The change of governments in many of the countries was never stable; one government would overthrow another government constantly. Democracy in many of the countries did not supply the strong government that once led the areas and provided political stability. The different status among countries in the former Soviet Union provided for unequal development among the countries now. Thus the strong rigid political continuity that was once present in Central Asia is lost leaving the areas in great political insecurity and turmoil. Politics in Afghanistan have been very complicated over the past couple of centuries. Although Central Asia gained political stability through the Soviet Union, Afghanistan never achieved it. Even with the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907, this brought Afghanistan more into British rule that did not provide political continuity. Afghanistan was a very precious country for either Russia or Britain to have, but none could take control of the country. During the rule of Amanullah Khan in Afghanistan he vowed to get complete independence from Britain. In undermining British rule and using post-world war I atmosphere to his advantage Khan made the British realize another war was on the verge of becoming reality. In 1919 realizing the continuation of trying to control Afghanistan was futile, the British gave full independence to Afghanistan. The newly independent Afghanistan had to find allies now to bolster them. The U.S.S.R was the first ally they gained and Russia still plays that role today. From the early 1920’s to the 1970’s it was relatively stable in Afghanistan. The presence of the U.S.S.R provided huge political stability in the area and military backing. The Afghanistan government modeled some aspects of their government like the U.S.S.R and was hoping to establish a strong, rigid central government. In 1978 the civil war in Afghanistan started and political turmoil has never been laid to rest. The civil war has had numerous factions who have apart of it and ruled for some amount of time. Although there has not been one faction that ruled consistently and been able to make Afghanistan politically stable. The continuity of politics in Afghanistan is virtually non-existent due to the various reigns that have come through Afghanistan. Some groups have been extremists others communists, but the way in which each group has handled international relations have been totally different (Af...