Graveyard of empires explained

The graveyard of empires is a sobriquet often associated with Afghanistan. It originates from the several historical examples of foreign powers having been unable to achieve military victory in Afghanistan in the modern period, including the Soviet Union and, most recently, the United States.

Historical background

Historically, great powers have invaded Afghanistan without having been able to maintain stable long-term rule. Modern examples include the British Empire during the First, Second, and Third Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839–1842, 1878–1880, 1919); the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989); and the United States in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).[1] [2] [3] The difficulty of conquering Afghanistan has been attributed to the problems that invaders face when confronting its hazardous mountainous terrain, desert conditions, severe winters, guerilla warfare, fortress-like qalats,[4] enduring clan loyalties,[5] empires often being in conflict with each other while simultaneously attempting to subdue Afghanistan, and complications caused by interactions with Afghanistan's neighboring countries—such as coordinating relations with Pakistan, where fighters in Afghanistan have sometimes located their sanctuaries.[6]

Usage

The phrase, in reference to Afghanistan, does not seem to predate a 2001 article by Milton Bearden in the magazine Foreign Affairs.[7] [8] Alternatively, the term has been applied to Mesopotamia.[9] Elsewhere, a very similar phrase, "the graveyard of nations and empires," has been used in a figurative sense to describe the Old Testament's Book of Isaiah.[10]

The anthropologist Thomas Barfield has noted that the narrative of Afghanistan as an unconquerable nation has been used by Afghanistan itself to deter invaders. In October 2001, during the United States invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban founder and leader Mohammed Omar Mujahid threatened the United States with the same fate as the British Empire and the Soviet Union. US President Joe Biden referred to the sobriquet while he delivered a public statement after the 2021 fall of Kabul as evidence that no further commitment of American military presence would consolidate the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan against the Taliban.[11]

Criticism

The New York Times foreign correspondent Rod Nordland has stated that "in truth, no great empires perished solely because of Afghanistan."[12] Joint Services Command and Staff College lecturer Patrick Porter called the attribution "a false extrapolation from something that is true - that there is tactical and strategic difficulty."[5]

The British Empire was not destroyed after the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and the collapse of the British Empire was more commonly attributed to World War II.[5] While the Soviet–Afghan War was a major factor in the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the opposition in Afghanistan was only possible with foreign aid, primarily from the United States.[6] Furthermore, there is reason to believe that the Soviet Union would have collapsed regardless of the campaign. Nonetheless, the narrative allowed for argument from analogy and the thesis of "history repeating itself", which proved accepted amongst authors and political experts.[13]

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: McCarthy . Niall . Infographic: Afghanistan: The Graveyard Of Empires . Statista Infographics . 2021-07-26 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210728032706/https://www.statista.com/chart/25400/military-deaths-in-foreign-interventions-in-afghanistan/. 2021-07-28.
  2. Web site: Bearden . Milton . Milton Bearden . Afghanistan, Graveyard of Empires . Foreign Affairs . 2001 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20150715020537/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2001-11-01/afghanistan-graveyard-empires. 2015-07-15.
  3. Web site: Innocent . Malou . Carpenter . Ted Galen . Escaping the "Graveyard of Empires": A Strategy to Exit Afghanistan . Cato Institute. 2009-09-14. 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210225222914/https://www.cato.org/white-paper/escaping-graveyard-empires-strategy-exit-afghanistan. 2021-02-25.
  4. Web site: Pillalamarri . Akhilesh . Why Is Afghanistan the 'Graveyard of Empires'? . The Diplomat. 2017-06-30 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210811170328/https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-is-afghanistan-the-graveyard-of-empires/. 2021-08-11.
  5. Web site: Neild . Barry . Is Afghanistan really a 'graveyard of empires?' . CNN.com . 2011-07-05 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323043144/https://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/07/afghanistan.graveyard/index.html. 2021-03-23.
  6. Book: Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden. February 4, 2004. Penguin Press HC. 1-5942-0007-6.
  7. Web site: Hainy-Khaleeli . Alexander . 24 August 2021 . Why we need to stop calling Afghanistan "The Graveyard of Empires" . Ajam Media Collective.
  8. Bearden . Milton. . Afghanistan, Graveyard of Empires . Foreign Affairs . November/December 2001.
  9. Book: Burnham . Sarah Maria . Struggles of the Nations; Or, The Principal Wars, Battles, Sieges, and Treaties of the World, Vol. 1 . 1891 . Lea and Shepard . 31 . 31 January 2022.
  10. Book: Gillett . Ezra Hall . Ancient Cities and Empires: Their Prophetic Doom, Read in the Light of History and Modern Research . 1867 . Presbyterian Publication Committee . 301 . 31 January 2022.
  11. News: Read the full transcript of President Biden's remarks on Afghanistan. . The New York Times . 16 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210816233741/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/us/politics/biden-taliban-afghanistan-speech.html. 2021-08-16.
  12. Web site: Nordland. Rod. The Empire Stopper . The New York Times . 2017-08-29 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20170829132644/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/world/asia/afghanistan-graveyard-empires-historical-pictures.html. 2017-08-29.
  13. Web site: Caryl . Christian . Bury the Graveyard . Foreign Policy . 2010-07-26 . 2021-08-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210504122636/https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/07/26/bury-the-graveyard/. 2021-05-04.