Afghanistan raises many questions. Looking from the outside, this is a multi-ethnic state, but is it still a state in its classic contemporary sense? If there is no national-national identity completely, is a country without identity a real state at all or is it just on paper?

In order to be called an ethnic group of individuals, six criteria must be met (Michael E.Brown in his book Ethnic Conflict and International Security):

  • The group must have a name for themselves. This is not a trivial requirement. The lack of name reflects the poor development of collective identity.
  • Group members must believe in unified ancestors. This is more important than the genetic links that may exist but are not so important.
  • Group members must share historical memory, often selling and legends that have been passed on from one generation to the next.
  • The group must have a common culture based primarily on a combination of language, religion, laws, customs, institutions, clothing, music, architecture and food.
  • The Group considers itself to be part of a territory. They may also not be in this territory.

What are the main problems in Afghanistan:

First, there are many hostile tribes and ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmens etc. There is no official data on population. The latest census was still ongoing at the end of 1979  but was never finished because of the Soviet military invasion (at that time, there were 15 million people in the country as counted). The last completed census took place only in 1971.

Second, in 1996-2001, Afghanistan  became  the New “Disneyland of Terrorism” of the Arabs as the Bekaa Valley (the so-called “Terrorism of Old Disneyland”) was left behind in the Middle East. Terrorist training camps were directed at the beginning to Sudan (including Osama bin Laden); and from there to Afghanistan. As the result of US and Allied military intervention in 2001 Afghanistan, members of various terrorist groups fled around the world, some of them returned to Bekaa Valley. In addition, Hezbollah (the Allah Party, established in the early 1980s, whose military wing makes the whole organization terrorist) was and is also active in the region.

The Culture of Kalashnikov

Since 1974 Afghanistan has been a place of various wars. In 1970s in was a period of coups and mujahideens were some of the dominant players in the civil war. In 1980s the war with USSR broke out for eight years. Since mid-1990s Taliban came to power and in the 21st century a wider international war took place. Thus for generations of people in Afghanistan were raised on fighting and with … Kalashnikov rifles (also the favorite weapon for Osama bin Laden).

The process of globalization in Afghanistan has also disappeared or, perhaps, has already taken place in its primacy, as the country consists of ethnic groups (nationalities) who actually live in a larger numbers in neighboring countries. It all depends of course on defining globalization (but also on regionalization). Ethnic, national identity is not the basis for this country.

When US troops entered Afghanistan in  October 2001,  Osama bin Laden, the world’s most famous terrorist had left it a few days before. He was found in Pakistan 10 years later and was killed during a US military operation.

After 2001, Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries joined the wider coalition in Afghanistan. The aim was to destroy the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden and overthrow the Taliban government. The war in Afghanistan has been one of the longest wars in the history of the United States, if not the longest.

Small NATO state Estonia has also contributed its goodwill to the coalition forces alongside the British, Americans and Danes, and in one of the most religious, conservative and militarily dangerous areas of Afghanistan, in the south of the country – in Helmand province, in the neighborhood of Kandahar province, or earlier in named Kandahar. Why this risky area for Estonia? It is a complicated question to answer. One might think that the whole Afghanistan is a great potential, if not direct,  fighting place where at any moment some inhabitants of the country may use Kalashnikovs, or the roadside full of bombs. But no. The country is very different – both in nature and in people; as well as visiting donors and volunteers, humanitarian organizations. I remember a couple-of-year-old international NGO conference, where an Estonian schoolgirl told about her personal experiences in Afghanistan during a short-term exchange visit in northern regions where nature was wonderfully fresh and the exceptionally green trees and colorful flowers were flourishing in the sun; schoolchildren – cheerfully excited, extremely kind; though poor, but happy; and the war did not look anywhere. It seemed to have been an exciting school-tourism trip. Paradox. There is a war in the south and the North is calm. However, this is extremely premature, because Afghanistan is one of the most mysterious countries in the world.

Democratic principles in a Messy Country

In spring of 2019, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani’s has proposed A Grand Plan for Sustainable Peace in Afghanistan that would bring not only peace but also justice, equality and overall economic, social, technological progress.  Is such a liberal-democratic approach at all possible in Afghanistan, in a mysterious country with patriarchal tribal society, with many different ethnic groups, tribes and no understanding of Afghanistan as a nation (modern) state at all?