The Taliban: a new proxy for Iran in Afghanistan?

Abstract

Iran has pursued a highly contradictory policy towards Afghanistan. On the one hand, it became a significant beneficiary of the overthrow of the Taliban regime by the US-led military intervention in 2001 in Afghanistan. The new Afghan government established cordial ties with Iran, allowing it to expand its political, economic and cultural influence in the country. Yet Iran has also provided significant support to the Taliban in its campaign to violently upend the political, social and economic processes in the country. This article examines the underlying domestic and regional security dynamics that contribute to this contradictory behaviour. It offers an assessment of how tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic, as well as Tehran’s growing threat perception following the rise of the Islamic State – Khorasan in 2014, impact on Iran’s policy towards the Taliban. The paper argues that Tehran views the Taliban as an instrument to disrupt the influence of other actors in Afghanistan. The instrumentalisation of the Taliban, however, is likely to be counterproductive for Iranian security in the long run as it contributes to Afghanistan’s instability and insecurity and undermines Iran’s own long-term interests.     

The affective politics of sovereignty: reflecting on the 2010 conflict in Kyrgyzstan

This article examines the concept of sovereignty in elite and popular affection during the violent and turbulent events from April to October 2010 in the Kyrgyz Republic. Nationalist leaders promoted Kyrgyz ethnic values and ideals as the center of sovereignty held by some to be under threat. These events exemplify what we describe as the affective politics of sovereignty. We explore how emotion, in particular, serves as an important component of the constitution of sovereignty as both an international and popular institution. We explore how Kyrgyz identity has become intertwined with the sovereignty of Kyrgyzstan and clashes with Western multi-ethnic conceptions and practices.     

The politics of history in West Papua - Indonesia conflict

This study examines how history is used as a source of legitimacy and a political instrument in the sectarian conflict between the Indonesian government and the West Papua nationalists. This paper explores the debate surrounding two historical aspects relevant to West Papua’s demand for independence: first, West New Guinea’s past as part of the Dutch colony and its relations with Indonesia and second, the 1969 referendum, the so-called Act of Free Choice, to decide West Papua’s fate. The Indonesian democratization in 1998 provided momentum to revise the narration of West Papua’s history. Democracy has empowered the Papuans as the victims of a power struggle to challenge the previous Indonesia’s monolithic narration of history. The Papuans’ alternative narration of history also serves as a medium of liberation from oppression by the Indonesian government. The Papuan story counters the theory that the narration of history is a privilege of the ruler and the winner.     

Learning peace (and conflict): the role of primary learning materials in peacebuilding in post-war Afghanistan,South Sudan and Sri Lanka

Post-war education is usually considered a positive contributor to peacebuilding; however, it can also reinforce divisive perspectives. Textbooks and learning materials can be instrumental in maintaining or exacerbating existing inequalities. This paper uses case study literature reviews of Afghanistan, South Sudan and Sri Lanka to explore the ways in which primary learning materials extend existing challenges of post-war education and potentially create new ones. An analysis of the literature on learning materials from these countries reveals that textbook development and uses are intertwined with larger national and international political and social power structures. We draw from Bourdieu and Giroux to consider how learning materials contribute to the reproduction of cultures of hostility, violence, divisiveness and silence or to transformatory cultures of peacebuilding, inclusivity and critical thought. Our resulting conceptual lens highlights how education can take on the role of being a victim, accomplice or transformer of conflict – roles that are often overlapping. Each case study country is taking steps towards peacebuilding through their primary learning materials; however, there are many elements of the textbook design, development, production and distribution process in each country that also reinforce contributing factors for conflict.     

Iran and Terrorism: The Transatlantic Responses

Since 1979 the United States and several European countries have accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of supporting terrorism. This article does not seek to examine the validity of these accusations. Rather, it analyzes how Washington and Brussels have sought to change Tehran's policy. Special attention is given to organizations such as Hizbollah, Hamas, Jihad, and Mujahideen-e Khalq. In addition, Ayatollah Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie, the Mykonos trial, and the Flatow Amendment are discussed. The article highlights the differences between the American and European approaches toward Iran and suggests that more cooperation between the two sides of the Atlantic is needed.     

The politics of hunger: Review article

Food Politics: the regional conflict. David Balaam & Michael J Carey, London: Croom Helm. 1981. 246pp. £16.95.

World Hunger: a guide to the economic and political dimensions. Nicole Ball, Oxford: Clio Press. 1981. 386pp. £27.95.

The Political Economy of Food Aid. John Cathie, Aldershot, England: Gower. 1982. 190pp. £14.50.

Food Security for Developing Countries. Edited by Alberto Valdes, Epping, England: Bowker. 1981. 351pp. £16.25.

Future Dimensions of World Food and Population. Edited by Richard G Woods, Epping, England: Bowker. 1981. 413pp. £16.25.     

Angola: The politics of unsustainable development

Armed conflict facilitates corruption and Angola presents a dramatic case study of this process. This article explores why the political context represents the key impediment to sustainable development. Solve the political problems and the gates are open for the Angolan people to reap the benefits of an abundant natural resource base with a low population density. The country has been trying to undergo three transitions simultaneously, that from war to peace, from single-party rule to multiparty democracy and from a commandbased to a free-market economy. The article explores these processes and their effects on changing patterns of corruption.     

The politics of convergence in Bolivia: social movements and the state

Abstract

The convergence of social movements in Bolivia was a decisive factor in bringing President Evo Morales and the Movement Towards Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, hereafter MAS) to power in 2006. Yet in recent years, this convergence has become fraught with internal tensions as the state’s extractivist development model and promises for plurinationalism and alternative forms of development reveal fundamental contradictions. This paper traces the formation of social movement alliances over time, revealing their power to effect change and their strength when there is unity in diversity. Rather than ‘neoliberalism’ which represented the injustice frame and united identity- and class-based politics during the rise of the MAS, the single greatest threat to the indigenous, peasants, originarios, women and the youth in the current context is extractivism.     

State-centered vs. Class-centered perspectives on international politics: The case of U.S. and British participation in the 1953 coup against premier Mosaddeq in Iran

Two alternative perspectives—state-centered and class-centered—on state actions 01 are considered. The explanatory power of each of these perspectives is examined by analyzing the behavior of three major political actors in the Iranian oil disputes—the Iranian, the British, and the U.S. governments—using the existing historical evidence. The article supports a class-centered explanation by demonstrating the significance of the International Petroleum Cartel in determining U.S. and British policy towards Iran in this period and the failure of the Iranian bourgeoisie to continue their support of Mosaddeq in the face of economic difficulties resulting from the nationalization of the oil industry. Partial support for a state-centered explanation is also noted. For future research, the utility of considering the state and class as interdependent actors with the specification that the nature of this interdependence is asymmetrical is suggested.