Historical setting
Afghanistan is located adjacent to south, central and west Asian nations making the nation a stop over for most nations that it interacted. The influence of other nation is evidenced in the ethnic and linguistics groupings in the nation. The nation connected various nations making it a trade hub that led to the growth of the empire. Ahmad Shah in 1747 founded a monarchy that united the groups in Afghanistan, the monarchy ruled till 1973. The monarchy was threaded in the 19th century by the expansion of the British and Russian governments which were at war. Abdur Rahman in 1900 neutralized the treat by consolidating his kingdom and establishing a modern nation state (Katzman, 2011).
Geography of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is situated in the middle of Asia next to the Middle East and central Asia. This geographical setting makes the nations hold some influential trade routes that have caused the nation to undergo a series of invasion to control to the trade. The nation has no access to the large water bodies thus landlocked. The capital city of the country is situated in Kabul province which holds a metropolitan population of over 3million inhabitants.
The land in the nation follows the slope of the Hindu Kush highlands with the peak point in the country being the Pamir Mountains. The nation stands on the Eurasian tectonic plates where a large amount of activity has been recorded over the last century. The nation has six neighbors namely, china, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan has a wealth of natural resources with natural gas, petroleum and coal being the abundant in the nation. Desertification and the lack of fresh drinking water are among the major challenges that face the nation. The area is arid thus most of the agriculture is one through irrigation. The nation covers almost 700,000km2 making it the 41st largest nation on the globe.
Afghan society
The population of people living in Afghanistan is over 31 million according to estimates in 2008. The nation has a population growth rate of 2.8% with over 76% of the population residing in rural centers spread over the nation. Over 40% percent of the population is less than 16 years of age with only 3% of the population over the age of 65. The birth rate is estimated to be 46 per 1000 population with a death rate of 20 per 1000 population. (Barfield, 2011).
Most of the illiterate individuals are women due to the ban on female education by the Taliban regime in 1996. With the reign of the Taliban gone, the government is trying to restore formal education in the nation. The health system in the nation is also a casualty of the war that has ravaged the nation. Improvements are underway to ensure the restoration of functional educational and health facilities among other social amenities in the society.
Economic status
Due to the war and political instability that has rocked the country for decades; the nation has one of the weakest economies in the globe. The main source of revenue is agriculture which is influenced by the weather among other factors. The activity may at times provide the nation with adequate food to sustain its population and sale to other nations. The main agricultural products produced include wool, corn, fruits and nuts. The nation has rich mineral deposits that remain unexploited due to the instability in the area. The imports in the nation are estimated at 8.27 billion while the export at 603 million dollars, this shows that the country has a relatively large balance of trade (Kuchins, 2011).
The nation has a debt accumulating to 8 billion dollars from the foreign nations such as Russia. The unemployment rates in the nation are estimated at 40% with almost 55% of the people living in the nation live in poverty. The nation has a labor force of around 15 million workers. The industries in the nation are mainly agriculture oriented with most of them processing the products produced in the nation. Inflation is estimated at 25%.
Government and politics
The Afghanistan government is made up of the council of ministries plus the national assembly. The president is the head of the government being assisted by two vice presidents. The president is also the commander in chief of the armed forces in the country. the nation has been under influence from other nations like Russia and America who have influenced the political system in the nation. The President of Afghanistan is Hamid Karzai who entered office in 2004 and re-elected in 2009. The members of the Supreme Court make up the judiciary and they are elected by the president (Kemp, 2011).
National security
To aver the dangers of civil war the nation has the Amniyat which is the domestic intelligence agency of the government. This branch of security is directly responsible for collection of intelligence in the nation and answers to the commander in chief. The Afghan National Army is the military branch of the government in the country. Its main duty is to protect the nation from foreign attacks the Army is divided in to 7 corps which are stationed over the major areas in the country. The army is also divided in to Commandos who are trained by the American army. The commandos are trained in first aids and infantry. The army also has a Special Forces branch and quick reaction force division. These are specialized forces trained from the commandos serving in the army. The nation has benefited from funds and training facilities from its allies who have assisted the nation to take care of the extremist in the nation. The complete withdrawal of NATO from the nation has not taken place yet with foreign nation in the country providing training and intelligence to the young army (Caldwell, 2011).
References
Kuchins, A. C. (2011). A Truly Regional Economic Strategy for Afghanistan. Washington Quarterly, 34(2), 77.
Katzman, K. (2011). Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-93.
Kemp, R. E. (2011). Local Governance and COIN in Eastern Afghanistan 2004-2008. Military Review, 91(1), 54.
Caldwell, W. S. (2011). Surging Security Force Assistance in Afghanistan. Military Review, 91(6), 18.
Barfield, T. (2011). Afghanistan’s Ethnic Puzzle. Foreign Affairs, 90(5), 54-65.
