Abstract

Almost every American today knows Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia. We were not always that informed. When my wife and I learned in the summer of 1964 that we would be going as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to Afghanistan, our family members and friends thought we were off to Africa. But after the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the ensuing military and civil presence of the US in that country, Americans are familiar with even more than the location of Afghanistan. Yet images today of Afghanistan are rarely positive. There is little reporting on that nation’s rich culture and history, the renowned hospitality of the Afghan people, or its stunning physical beauty. Instead, reports of suicide bombings, loss of civilian and military lives, gender inequality, religious extremism, poppy cultivation, and allegations of corruption and election fraud dominate the news and suggest a troubled future. Images I retain from an earlier time suggest reasons for hope for this beleaguered country, whose people have endured unrelieved war, deprivation, and instability for nearly forty years. I lived in Afghanistan for most of the years between 1965 and 1974. As mentioned above, my wife and I spent the first two of those years as PCVs. We returned to live there while I was a Fulbright scholar and then executive director of the Fulbright Foundation in Afghanistan. Our eldest child was born there during the last of these experiences.

Keywords: Afghanistan, American History, China, International Relations, Political Science, South Asia, Soviet Union, United States, World History

How to Cite:

E. Gouttierre, T., (2012) “What History Can Teach Us About Contemporary Afghanistan”, Education About Asia 17(2).

Rights: https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/what-history-can-teach-us-about-contemporary-afghanistan-2/