Mensa AG 2018

Reflections on Afghanistan: Wars and Nation-Building in the West vs. the “Rest” (Room JW Grand Ballroom 9)

05 Jul 18
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Tracks: Speaker

Speaker(s): M. Nazif Shahrani, Professor, Indiana University-Bloomington

Wars, generally considered to have played a constructive role in nation building and social and economic development in the history of Western industrialized societies, have failed to effect similar outcomes in non-Western and non-industrialized countries of the world. This seems to be especially true of the post-colonial, or the so-called Third World societies during the 20th and the early decades of 21st centuries. Focusing on the United States’ longest war in Afghanistan, this presentation will examine the impact of four decades (1978-2018) of wars and violence on Afghanistan’s society, economy, and political culture. More specifically, this session will examine the reasons for the differential impact of wars on the West who produces them and the “rest” of the societies who are made to be consumers of wars — whether low-intensity, civil, or proxy wars – in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. For more information, visit www.indiana.edu/~afghan or email shahrani@indiana.edu.