War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012

War on its Head demonstrates that the public understandings of the last thirty-four years of conflict in Helmand province, Afghanistan, have been poor descriptors and predictors of the conflict’s dynamics. Examples of these public understandings include the holy mujahidin defeating the atheist Sovie...

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Main Author: Martin, Michael Peter
Other Authors: Farrell, Theo Gerard
Published: King's College London (University of London) 2013
Online Access:https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.762259
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spelling ndltd-bl.uk-oai-ethos.bl.uk-7622592019-02-12T03:25:13ZWar on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012Martin, Michael PeterFarrell, Theo Gerard2013War on its Head demonstrates that the public understandings of the last thirty-four years of conflict in Helmand province, Afghanistan, have been poor descriptors and predictors of the conflict’s dynamics. Examples of these public understandings include the holy mujahidin defeating the atheist Soviets, or the United States and Britain attempting to support a transition to democracy whilst being resisted by a fundamentalist insurgency: the Taliban. Drawing on extensive experience in Helmand province, one hundred and fifty anonymous interviews with Helmandi notables and Taliban commanders, and detailed secondary research in English and Pushtu, this thesis explores the Helmandi view of the last thirty-four years of their conflict, through three eras of external influence: Soviet, Pakistani and Western. It clearly shows that the same Helmandi private actors, feuds and narratives are driving the conflict, rather than the changing era-specific public narratives. The evidence presented here shows that this is because external actors have failed to understand the local, interpersonal nature of conflict in Helmand. The consequences for policymakers and scholars are discussed in the conclusion.King's College London (University of London)https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.762259https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/war-on-its-head(7bf715b1-d80c-48a5-9c3a-932668cb3484).htmlElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
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sources NDLTD
description War on its Head demonstrates that the public understandings of the last thirty-four years of conflict in Helmand province, Afghanistan, have been poor descriptors and predictors of the conflict’s dynamics. Examples of these public understandings include the holy mujahidin defeating the atheist Soviets, or the United States and Britain attempting to support a transition to democracy whilst being resisted by a fundamentalist insurgency: the Taliban. Drawing on extensive experience in Helmand province, one hundred and fifty anonymous interviews with Helmandi notables and Taliban commanders, and detailed secondary research in English and Pushtu, this thesis explores the Helmandi view of the last thirty-four years of their conflict, through three eras of external influence: Soviet, Pakistani and Western. It clearly shows that the same Helmandi private actors, feuds and narratives are driving the conflict, rather than the changing era-specific public narratives. The evidence presented here shows that this is because external actors have failed to understand the local, interpersonal nature of conflict in Helmand. The consequences for policymakers and scholars are discussed in the conclusion.
author2 Farrell, Theo Gerard
author_facet Farrell, Theo Gerard
Martin, Michael Peter
author Martin, Michael Peter
spellingShingle Martin, Michael Peter
War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
author_sort Martin, Michael Peter
title War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
title_short War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
title_full War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
title_fullStr War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
title_full_unstemmed War on its head : an oral history of the Helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
title_sort war on its head : an oral history of the helmandi conflict, 1978-2012
publisher King's College London (University of London)
publishDate 2013
url https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.762259
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