The Road from Marja: Wounded in Afghanistan, Capt. Erik Quist '99, USMC, sees another side of combat

Marine Corps Capt. Erik Quist ’99 had fought in two wars. Now he fights again as he recovers from severe wounds suffered in Afghanistan.

Transport infrastructure and economic development in least developed countries: the case of Afghanistan

This PhD thesis tries to show the impact of transport infrastructure in economic development in least developed countries and in particular in the case of Afghanistan. Some least developed countries during 1990 to 1999 experienced lack of investment in transportation. Lack of investment further increased the economic development gap between developed and least developed countries. Moreover, lack of literature and research in poor countries such as Afghanistan encouraged me to do my research in this country in order to unveil the problems, facing poor people who are living in inaccessible places and suffer from lack of economic opportunities and long term unemployment. This thesis shows the effect of inaccessibility and immobility in economic opportunities and basic social services in Afghanistan. This thesis is important because it covers the role of transport infrastructures at the moment that international community promised to rebuild the infrastructures of post conflict Afghanistan.

Afghanistan connection : heroin production, distribution, and consumption

Heroin prices are a reflection of supply and demand, and similar to any other market, profits motivate participation. The intent of this research is to examine the change in Afghan opium production due to political conflict affecting Europe’s heroin market and government policies. If the Taliban remain in power, or a new Afghan government is formed, the changes will affect the heroin market in Europe to a certain degree. In the heroin market, the degree of change is dependent on many socioeconomic forces such as law enforcement, corruption, and proximity to Afghanistan. An econometric model that examines the degree of these socioeconomic effects has not been applied to the heroin trade in Afghanistan before. This research uses a two-stage least squares econometric model to reveal the supply and demand of heroin in 36 different countries from the Middle East to Western Europe in 2008. An application of the two-stage least squares model to the heroin market in Europe will attempt to predict the socioeconomic consequences of Afghanistan opium production.

Representing Afghanistan: The United States and Democracy's Imposition

There is an ongoing mission in Afghanistan; a mission driven by external political forces. At its core this mission hopes to establish peace, to protect the populace, and to install democracy. Each of these goals has remained just that, a goal, for the past eight years as the American and international mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed varied levels of commitment. Currently, the stagnant progress in Afghanistan has led the international community to become increasingly concerned about the viability of a future Afghan state. Most of these questions take root in the question over whether or not an Afghan state can function without the auspices of international terrorism. Inevitably, the normative question of what exactly that government should be arises from this base concern. In formulating a response to this question, the consensus of western society has been to install representative democracy. This answer has been a recurring theme in the post Cold War era as states such as Bosnia and Somalia bear witness to the ill effects of external democratic imposition. I hypothesize that the current mold of externally driven state-building is unlikely to result in what western actors seek it to establish: representative democracy. By primarily examining the current situation in Afghanistan, I claim that external installation of representative democracy is modally flawed in that its process mandates choice. Representative democracy by definition constitutes a government reflective of its people, or electorate. Thus, freedom of choice is necessary for a functional representative democracy. From this, one can deduce that because an essential function of democracy is choice, its implementation lies with the presence of choice. State-building is an imposition that eliminates that necessary ingredient. The two stand as polar opposites that cannot effectively collaborate. Security, governing capacity, and development have all been targeted as measurements of success in Afghanistan. The three factors are generally seen as mutually constitutive; so improved security is seen as improving governing capacity. Thus, the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and a deteriorating security environment moving forward has demonstrated the inability of the Afghan government to govern. The primary reason for the Afghan government’s deficiencies is its lack of legitimacy among its constituency. Even the use of the term ‘constituency’ must be qualified because the Afghan government has often oscillated between serving the people within its territorial borders and the international community. The existence of the Afghan state is so dependent on foreign aid and intervention that it has lost policy-making and enforcing power. This is evident by the inability of Afghanistan to engage in basic sovereign state activities as maintaining a national budget, conducting elections, providing for its own national security, and deterring criminality. The Afghan state is nothing more than a shell of a government, and indicative of the failings that external state-building has with establishing democracy.

The Nature of the State in Afghanistan and Its Relations with Neighboring Countries

Since the formation of Afghanistan, its nature as a Pashtun state has affected all its international relations. On the other hand, the fact that it was originally established as a buffer state between Britain and Russia still governs its national integration. In this article I examine Afghanistan's relations with its neighbors through an investigation of its history and the present conditions of its borders with its southern, western and northern neighbors. My aim is to obtain an overall perspective of Afghanistan's relations with its neighbors, historically decisive elements, and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Transcending Cultural and Language Differences: Ethical Codes of Conduct for Translators and Interpreters in Afghanistan

This project examines what an ethical code of conduct would look like in Afghanistan through analysis of historical, cultural and linguistic aspects found within its regions, as well as an examination of ethical codes of conduct for translators and interpreters in other countries. While numerous ethical guidelines and codes of conduct for translators and interpreters exist throughout global communities, it seems that creating a successful standardized ethical code of conduct in Afghanistan may be difficult to achieve given cultural and linguistic complexities. An ethical code of conduct for translators and interpreters in Afghanistan should include particular focus on: cultural sensitivity and courtesy, impartiality, conflict of interest, options for withdrawal, as well as reflect the importance of Pashtunwali.

Introduction to the mammal survey of the 1965 Street Expedition to Afghanistan [by] Jerry D. Hassinger.

v.55(1968)

Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region, 1897 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: W. & A.K. Johnston's war map of the Northwest Indian frontier. It was published by W. & A.K. Johnston in 1897. Scale [ca.1:430,000]. Covers the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Asia North Lambert Conformal Conic coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as drainage, roads, railroads, cities and other human settlements, administrative and territorial boundaries, and more. Shows contested border region and areas of active hostilities. Relief shown by shading. Includes also inset maps: British Baluchistan -- India.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

Indus River Region, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, 1816 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Sindetic Hindoostan or the countries occupied by the Sinde or Indus and its branches, by John Cary. It was published by J. Cary June 1, 1816. Scale [ca. 1:7,000,000]. Covers the Indus River region including portions of Northwest India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kashmir. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to a modified 'Asia North Lambert Conformal Conic' projection with a central meridian of 72 degrees East. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as drainage, cities and other human settlements, roads, territorial boundaries, shoreline features, and more. Relief shown by hachures. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection as part of the Open Collections Program at Harvard University project: Islamic Heritage Project. Maps selected for the project represent a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes. The Islamic Heritage Project consists of over 100,000 digitized pages from Harvard's collections of Islamic manuscripts and published materials. Supported by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and developed in association with the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University.

Map of the Indus River and the neighbouring countries: comprising Sind, parts of Beloochistan and Afghanistan, Cashmeer, Punjab, Bhawulpoor, the protected Sikh States, Bickaneer and Jaysulmeer; & the Western Parts of Rajpootana

compiled by order of Government in the Office of the Surveyor General of India [Geo. Everest] from authentic and recent materials April 1834 by J. Graham ; drawn by Ed. Winston and D. F. Chill.