CS 39K, Spring 2011, Assignment 1

The Afghanistan Project

Due in Class: 10 March

U.S. operations in Afghanistan have now become the longest war in America's history, having lasted longer than half of your lives. The purpose of this group assignment is to examine the history of conflicts in Afghanistan during the 20th Century (through 2011), the political/religious/societal issues involved, the use (or non-use) of technology by the combatants, and the effectiveness (or non-effectiveness) of that technology. Over the next several weeks, you and a randomly selected group of your colleagues from the class will prepare a 15-20 minute multimedia briefing (e.g., powerpoint, images, photos, maps, clips from films, etc.) on one of the four periods of recent Afghani history listed below:

• Group 1: Afghanistan from the Assassination of King Habibullah in 1919 to the assassination of Prime Minister Daoud in 1978;
  


• Group 2: The founding of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the Soviet Incursion into Afghanistan, and the U.S. supported insurgency against the communist government and the Soviet Army that supported it (also known as "Charlie Wilson's War"), 1978-1992;
  


• Group 3: The Fall of President Najibullah, the Rise of the Taliban, and the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, 1992-2001;
  


• Group 4: U.S. support for the anti-Taliban insurgency, the U.S. Invasion after 9/11, the "democratically" elected Karzi government, and the on-going Taliban Insurgency, 2001-Present
  

The wikipedia entry on the complex and convoluted history of Afghanistan provides a very good start for your research. However, read any entries with a critical eye. The information on wikipedia (or the Web in general) cannot uncritically be assumed to be true!

Within your group, you should discuss the topic, and the group should structure your joint presentation along the following lines:

• The religious (e.g., Islamic vs. Secular), political (e.g., monarchy vs. democratic vs. communist), and social (e.g., urban elites vs. rural poor) context that led to the conflicts, from within and from without Afghanistan, that occurred during the period you are studying. What is the rationale for one group rising against another, and for the latter for choosing to suppress the former?


• For the two (or sometimes more than two) sides to the conflicts in question, how did they operate militarily and what was their criterion for success? For example, did they operate as if in a civil war with conventional armies fighting within Afghanistan's borders, an insurgency hiding among the people, a warlord-led band of brigands, or some other kind of military organization? Was their goal to throw out an invader, overthrow the existing government, and/or install their own political system? Was their strategy to hold the cities, control the countryside, or win the conflict by some other means?


• When a less powerful force was in conflict with a more powerful force, how did they operate to redress the differences in their military capabilities versus their opponent? Pitched battles, terrorist campaign, threatening the national economy, or some other mode of operation?


• When a more powerful force was in conflict with a less powerful force, how did they exploit their superior capabilities against the less power force, and was it successful? If so, why, and if not, why not?


• What was the role (if any) of high technology weaponry and systems (subject to the particular time frame), in making it possible for the winning side to succeed against the losing side? If they were effective in achieving victory, why was this so, and if they were not, why not?

You can organize your presentation in any way the group desires, as long as the above issues are addressed at a minimum. You should structure your presentation so that every group member has an opportunity to participate in presenting the report to the rest of the class.

Last edited: 22 January 2011. randy@cs.Berkeley.edu