Afghan Border Research Articles

Contested Cartographies: Empire and Sovereignty on a Map of Sistān, Iran (1883)

ABSTRACTThe papers of Malkam Khān (1833–1908), Iranian ambassador in London from 1872 to 1889, a staunch supporter of Iranian state modernization and a scholar, include an often-overlooked map of the Iran–Afghanistan border dating to 1883. Mirzā Mohammad-Rezā Tabrizi compiled this exceptional piece of nineteenth-century Iranian cartography. The map is an illustration of how quickly the Qajar administration was able to emulate European cartographical discourses to protect its own interests in the context of the so-called ‘Great Game’, that is, the often confrontational Russo–British relations over the control of Central Asia and Afghanistan in the nineteenth century. In this article we show that Iranian officials had developed a much more substantial articulation between cartography and statecraft than is conveyed by the stereotypes in nineteenth-century Western literature, when the capacity of local players to use counter-mapping to their own advantage was often underestimated by European agents. Mirzā Mohammad-Rezā Tabrizi’s map of Sistān exemplifies how the apparently all-powerful Western science that seemingly supported nineteenth-century imperial expansion was rarely left unchallenged locally. The genealogy and circulation of the map also reflects how overly simplistic the postulation of a polarization of ‘Western’ knowledge and ‘Eastern’ attempts at safeguarding local sovereignty can be.

Landscape connectivity for mammalian megafauna along the Iran-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan borderland

Habitat fragmentation threatens biodiversity, causes population isolation and reduces the availability of resources. When species ranges span geopolitical borders, management of transboundary populations and securing their connectivity can be compromised by different conservation priorities and juridical efforts. Using a combination of species distribution modelling and circuit theory, we modelled suitable habitats for four conservation-dependent mammalian megafauna in northeastern Iran, bordering Turkmenistan and Afghanistan which is part of the larger Kopet Dag Ecoregion in central Asia. Our multispecies approach aimed to identify key habitats and potential national and international corridors for Persian leopard (Panthera pardus), bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), urial (Ovis orientalis) and goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) based on environmental variables. Between 18 to 34% of the study area was identified as suitable habitat for each species with a moderate variability in coverage by conservation network, ranging between 14 to 43%). Importantly, we identified three key landscapes which can enhance the connectivity between main populations of the species in northeastern Iran as well as neighboring countries. Most of the suitable landscapes along the Iran-Turkmenistan borderlands are protected on the Iranian side, providing a source for landscape connectivity across the border. In contrast, the main suitable landscapes for megafauna in northeastern Iran are located far from the Afghan border. Our multispecies approach provided an empirical framework for spatial conservation planning for the mammalian megafauna across the Kopet Dag Ecoregion and can direct future survey efforts to identify critical wildlife areas in Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, two countries with scarce data on biodiversity.

The Pashtun Spring

For forty years since 1979, the region bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan known as the Pashtun belt has experienced permanent war. Since 2012, the US ‘Pivot to Asia’ strategy has confronted China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ project, which includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), viewed by the US as a threat to its military and economic power in the Indian Ocean region. The clash between US strategic interests, CPEC and the arrival of China and Russia in the Arabian Sea confirms the Pashtun belt as a fulcrum of world imperialism. In 2018, a mass, secular, nationalist protest movement erupted in Pakistan, threatening the political and cultural dominance of Islamist parties and militias that has existed in the Pashtun belt since 2002. This Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), or Pashtun Protection Movement, constitutes a critical development of Pashtun nationalism challenging Pakistans pro-imperialist policy under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) government.

Jihad or Revenge: Theorizing Radicalization in Pashtun Tribal Belt along the Border of Afghanistan

What this research work does is to explore the relationship between radicalization and social traditions of Badal (revenge) in the tribal area of Pakistan. What is argued is that when someone is not guilty of any crime or not involved in any unlawful acts but killed even by the most powerful like Americans, his revenge is considered to be a social obligation by his closer kin of the family. In this process, they may sometimes join organizations like Al-Qaeda or the Taliban in vengeance and often become an active member of a terrorist organization. What may be established is that it is not a religion but the social customs of that particular area that help the locals undergo an unavoidable process of radicalization. For any tribesman, fixing revenge is so important as only this way the victim can live with honor among his community.

Landscape differentiation of environmental management systems in Afghanistan

The article is devoted to the analysis of the location of various forms of environmental management in Afghanistan. The main approaches to the classification of environmental management are considered, a version of the classification of environmental management in relation to the landscape conditions of Afghanistan is proposed, and a corresponding map has been drawn up. It was found that in the largest areas of the territory within the administrative borders of Afghanistan, dry farming (including cattle breeding), small oasis and oasis farming involving pasture cattle breeding with extremely low productivity is implemented, but their area is more than 70 % of the total area of the country. Highly productive agricultural use of nature is realized only under conditions of artificial irrigation, and occupies extremely small areas, which are also the most densely populated.

The eastern-Iran wind-resource assessment through a planetary boundary layer simulation (2011–2015)

Currently, in order to reduce the time and cost of wind measurement masts installation, numerical meteorological models are being utilized to simulate the regional wind climate. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model was applied to assess the wind power potential in the East of Iran. After evaluating the model, the wind mean speed and the power map were prepared based on a 5-year simulation (2011–2015). The results indicated that there were high wind-energy-potential areas bordering Iran and Afghanistan. The model illuminated that Khaf city had a satisfactory wind potential, reasonably corresponding with the observations. The model error was greater for the low wind speeds. With regard to the wind resource map of the area, only 3% of the study area falls within class 3 or higher, and therefore, can be considered conformative to the wind power generation.

Rheumatology Care Using Telemedicine.

Introduction: People living in many parts of the world have limited access to diagnostic studies and therapies for rheumatologic, musculoskeletal, and connective tissue diseases. The challenge has been particularly poignant for rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. Objectives: We report on the implementation of a telemedicine program in Iran for the evaluation and treatment of patients with rheumatologic and musculoskeletal diseases. More than 4,800 patients were seen remotely over a span of 5 years by a rheumatologist in the United States. The remote rheumatologist was aided by a general physician and a nurse at a local charity hospital in northeastern Iran that has a catchment area that includes rural regions extending to the border of Afghanistan. Seventy to 90 patients were evaluated online by the remote rheumatologist 3 days a week. A subset of patients was evaluated by the rheumatologist in person every 4 months. Materials and Methods: The population of rheumatology patients was evaluated using descriptive statistics. Information collected included demographic information consisting of age, gender, and primary rheumatologic diagnosis. Results: The average age of patients who were seen was 52 years and 89% of patients were women. Approximately 50% of patients were Afghan refugees. The most common disorders included osteoarthritis (1,149, 23.6%), rheumatoid arthritis (653, 13.4%), axial spondyloarthropathies (647, 13.3%), lumbar spinal stenosis (427, 8.8%), meniscal tear of the knee (326, 6.7%), and psoriatic arthritis (217, 4.5%). Certain conditions were lower than expected such as lupus (19, 0.4%) and fibromyalgia (169, 3.5%). Diagnostic tests included serologic tests (1,328, 27.3%), plain radiographs (946, 19.5%), magnetic resonance imaging (899, 18.5%), bone densitometry (147, 3.0%), and electromyography and nerve conduction study (132, 2.7%). The most common medications prescribed were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (791, 16.3%), methotrexate (764, 15.7%), pregabalin (234, 4.8%), duloxetine (230, 4.7%), sulfasalazine (177, 3.6%), etanercept (97, 2.0%), tofacitinib (64, 1.3%), adalimumab (18, 0.4%), and infliximab (9, 0.2%). Conclusions: Telemedicine is becoming more prevalent. We report the successful use of this service in evaluation and management of rheumatic diseases in a region with limited access to rheumatologic care. We have shown that patients can be seen, evaluated, and successfully treated with a variety of medications, including biologic agents.

Targeted Killings by Drones and Legality of Deployment of CIA Operatives

Since October 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employed a predator drone armed with missiles to carry out an operation in Afghanistan that targeted suspected al-Qaeda members. These missile attacks continued to hit targets in Yemen, Afghanistan, and the Pakistani territory bordering Afghanistan. It has been proven that missile-equipped drones are uncertain when used in covert operations. Drone strikes raise legal questions under International Law, Human Rights Law (HRL) and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). IHL prohibits civilian organisations from participating in direct hostilities unless the government notifies them of their incorporation into the regular armed forces. The explanation for why the CIA does not have the authorisation to carry out drone strikes is given in the article. The deployment of the CIA rather than regular armed forces is a violation of both accepted norms of war and HRL regulations.

Pakistan’s Border Policies and Security Dynamics along the Pakistan–Afghanistan Border

ABSTRACTAfter the US-backed international military alliance toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, most Afghan militants took shelter in neighboring Pakistan, blending into Pakistan’s tribal groups. Even though Pakistan took a variety of measures to control its border, the Pakistan–Afghanistan border has become a safe haven for Afghan and Pakistani militant groups. Despite mounting militancy along the border, especially after the fall of the Taliban, the Pakistani government opted for a defensive border strategy and started erecting a border fence. Left with few options, in 2017, the Pakistani government switched to an offensive border strategy by giving a shoot-to-kill order against anyone who illegally crosses the border. This article examines the rationale behind Pakistan’s different border strategies by analyzing the security dynamics along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.

Assembling marginality in northern Pakistan

This article illustrates how Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan—bordering Afghanistan, China, and India—has been part of an “assemblage of marginality” since the region was incorporated in 1947 and 1948. We situate our case amidst recent scholarship that seeks to go beyond mere location at the territorial limits of the nation-state as the defining feature of a border area. In addition, we emphasize the temporal aspects of how marginality in Gilgit-Baltistan has been assembled through four constituent processes: (1) the continuity of the colonial legacy in the western Himalaya, poignantly highlighted by the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan that has resulted in Gilgit-Baltistan's constitutionally ambiguous status today; (2) the pervasiveness of nationalist histories and cultural tropes about Gilgit-Baltistan that have been constructed for the post-colonial state; (3) a local political economy subservient to a centralist agenda that has been amplified by the introduction of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); (4) the formation of local identities in Gilgit-Baltistan, marked by exclusion from the state, which offers insights into marginality as identity. In sum, we argue that this assemblage of marginality goes far beyond Gilgit-Baltistan and provides ample points of comparison with marginal spaces in other locations around the globe.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, ANYTIME: THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT ON WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PAKISTAN

This study explores the constraints on women entrepreneurs running SMEs in conflict zones. The research is carried out in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), a conflict affected province in Pakistan close to the border of Afghanistan. The findings reveal that women in the region are in a complex family situation exacerbated by terrorism, which has created stress, depression and fear of failure. Better understanding of their circumstances may aid those seeking to help such businesses in Pakistan and other regions beset by conflict.

India’s Membership of Missile Technology Control Regime: Implications for South Asia

India’s membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) affects strategic balance in South Asia particularly, Pakistan. India’s membership of the group would aid India’s missile and space programmes, providing it access to technologies and missile systems hitherto unavailable to it. This may include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) like Global Hawk and Predator, which the US has employed for reconnaissance and counter-terrorism along Pakistan Afghanistan border to strike targets within Pakistan’s territory, violating its sovereignty. India’s acquisition of these systems will pose a threat to Pakistan. The MTCR membership would accelerate India’s missile programme, thereby, exacerbating an arms race in South Asia. It would also further tilt the regional balance of power in India’s favour. However, the bigger threat is the quest to win India a place at the high tables in the world and to build it up as a regional and global power. After looking into the pros and cons of Pakistan joining the MTCR, this article concludes that presently it is not in Pakistan’s favour to join the group since it may help the US and the West to hinder or curtail Pakistan’s missile programme.

Legal Sovereignty on the Border: Aliens, Identity and Violence on the Northwestern Frontier of Pakistan

ABSTRACTIn the summer of 2011, two incidents of coldblooded violence took place at the hands of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in Pakistan. One incident involved the killing of a group of foreigners/aliens traveling across the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, and the other involved the killing of a citizen in an area under curfew in the metropolitan city of Karachi. On one hand, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a Suo Moto action in the case of the latter incident, while remaining silent on the former. On the other, the Pakistani government, instead of reviewing the powers of LEAs, increased them by passing new security laws in the following years. In this article, I focus on these two incidents of violence to question how/why aliens are treated differently from citizens in the Pakistan’s criminal justice system. I trace the legal genealogy of that differential treatment and highlight the different stages of its growth. I also throw light on the way lethal force was used on the victims to show the drawbacks in the operational side of law enforcement. Finally, I engage critical theory to understand the nature of this violence, which now resides in the structure of the legal regime of security.

Angels of mercy or smiling western invaders? Community’s perception of NGOs in northwest Pakistan

Using a qualitative Delphi method, this study explored how the Pashtun community, living across the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, perceives the role and significance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study also examined deep-rooted causes of the resistance to NGO-based development and suggested best practice strategies. Analysis of the Delphi finding showed consensus that most NGOs are perceived with deep suspicions and fear among the Pashtun society. Most of these suspicions and elements of mistrust were echoed in terms of an extension of western imperialism, violations of local cultures, spreading immorality, corruption and lack of credibility, and transparency. We discuss the implications for social work practice.

Characterizing site response in the Attock Basin, Pakistan, using microtremor measurement analysis

The Attock Basin is situated close to the northwest of Pakistan. Recent seismic event of October 2015 (7.5Mw) near the Pakistan Afghanistan border has proved that the area of interest is seismically active and triggered a series of aftershocks of magnitude even greater than 6.5Mw. This seismic activity has posed danger to the future of the people and infrastructure especially to the northwestern part of the country. Therefore, site response analysis is essential for estimating local site conditions in response to seismic events. Ambient noise recordings were made at 50 sites within urban and semi-urban settlements in the Attock Basin to analyze the site response of the small but densely populated basin. At each of these sites, the fundamental frequency of the soft sediments (f 0), the amplitude (A 0) of corresponding H/V spectral ratios, the thickness of soft sediment (H) lying over competent lithology, and the soil vulnerability index (K g) were studied. Results were correlated with sparsely available borehole data to enhance the credibility of the study conducted for microzonation and predicting the site response to earthquake seismicity in the Attock Basin. The soil vulnerability index was found to range from moderate to high. Results clearly showed that the study area exhibits low to moderate fundamental frequency with greater soft sediment thicknesses distributed throughout the study area. Moreover, higher impedance contrasts were found at most of the sites within the central part of the Attock Basin, thus reflecting a moderate to high susceptibility of damage in those regions in response to seismic events.

Elimination of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Tajikistan

Malaria was eliminated in Tajikistan by the beginning of the 1960s. However, sporadic introduced cases of malaria occurred subsequently probably as a result of transmission from infected mosquito Anopheles flying over river the Punj from the border areas of Afghanistan. During the 1970s and 1980s local outbreaks of malaria were reported in the southern districts bordering Afghanistan. The malaria situation dramatically changed during the 1990s following armed conflict and civil unrest in the newly independent Tajikistan, which paralyzed health services including the malaria control activities and a large-scale malaria epidemic occurred with more than 400,000 malaria cases. The malaria epidemic was contained by 1999 as a result of considerable financial input from the Government and the international community. Although Plasmodium falciparum constituted only about 5% of total malaria cases, reduction of its incidence was slower than that of Plasmodium vivax. To prevent increase in P. falciparum malaria both in terms of incidence and territory, a P. falciparum elimination programme in the Republic was launched in 200, jointly supported by the Government and the Global Fund for control of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The main activities included the use of pyrethroids for the IRS with determined periodicity, deployment of mosquito nets, impregnated with insecticides, use of larvivorous fishes as a biological larvicide, implementation of small-scale environmental management, and use of personal protection methods by population under malaria risk. The malaria surveillance system was strengthened by the use of ACD, PCD, RCD and selective use of mass blood surveys. All detected cases were timely epidemiologically investigated and treated based on the results of laboratory diagnosis. As a result, by 2009, P. falciparum malaria was eliminated from all of Tajikistan, one year ahead of the originally targeted date. Elimination of P. falciparum also contributed towards speedy reduction of P. vivax incidence in Tajikistan.

The American Telemedicine Association ATA 2017 Telehealth 2.0 Conference Abstracts.

The American Telemedicine Association ATA 2017 Telehealth 2.0 Conference Abstracts.

Brinkmanship, not COIN, in Pakistan’s post-9/11 Internal War

Politics is critical to making sense of Pakistani successes and failures in dealing with non-state armed groups. This includes domestic political currents; regional political currents; and the global impetus of the post-9/11 era. How these currents overlap renders to any reading of insurgency in Pakistan real complexity. This article engages with this complexity rather than shirking from it. Its hypothesis is that while the insurgency bordering Afghanistan has been an epicentre of Pakistani military efforts to fight the Taliban, this theatre is in of itself insufficiently inclusive to grasp the nature of Pakistan’s security challenges and its consequent responses.

THE BEGINNING OF REALIZATION OF THE NEW FOREIGN POLICY PRINCIPLES OF THE SOVIET RUSSIA ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE AFFAIRS WITH IRAN (1917-1918)

Article is prepared within the correspondence conference “1917: tragedy or triumph? Looking through the century” it is also devoted to 100-year anniversary of the October revolution of 1917. To some extent it is addition of my article “The First Steps in Formation of the Soviet-Persian Relations (1917–1921)” published in the first issue of the magazine “Istoricheskaya i sotsialno-obrazovatelnaya mysl” (Historical and SocialEducational Idea) for 2017 (Vol. 9, No. 1, Part 1, pp. 45-49).On the example of the relations with Iran the author analyzes the principles of foreign policy of the Soviet Russia based on equality, mutual respect of the people, peaceful co-existence, an internationalism, the right of the nations to self-determination, shows refusal of the Soviet Russia of the principles of imperial diplomacy. It is noted that Iran was divided in 1907 into spheres of influence between imperial Russia and England, and during World War I it is occupied by troops of England, imperial Russia and Turkey. In 1917 all inequitable agreements of the imperial government with Iran (1907, 1915) were cancelled. The author specifies that the soviet government in 1918 began to disengage the troops deployed in northwest and western Iran and also from the territory located along border of Iran and Afghanistan (the English troops occupied the south of country from the Persian Gulf to a southwest part of Afghanistan). It is emphasized that British tried to enlist counter-revolutionarily adjusted and unstable Cossacks and officers on the party. Disavowal of old diplomatic staff of Russia by soviet government abroad is considered. Heads of diplomatic representations of the Soviet Russia in case of the foreign governments began to be called plenipotentiaries of RSFSR, and the bulk of imperial diplomats which refused to serve the Soviet power were dismissed from diplomatic service. The conclusion that the Soviet-Iranian relations of the first years of the Soviet history show implementation of the new principles of foreign policy of Russia based on equality, mutual respect of the people, a right to selfdetermination, refusal of concessions, inequitable agreements, the agreements signed by the imperial government is drawn.

PALEOLIMNOLOGY OF LAKE HAMOUN (E IRAN): IMPLICATION FOR PAST CLIMATE CHANGES AND POSSIBLE IMPACTS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Abstract: Environmental changes since the late deglaciation are reconstructed from the sediment of Lake Hamoun. Lake Hamoun is located at the border of Iran and Afghanistan where inflowing rivers originate from the drainage basins of SW Hindu Kush Mountains and westernmost Himalaya. The lake has experienced a complex hydrological history during the late Quaternary due to climatic changes. Geochemical, sedimentological, and paleontological proxies as well as geomorphological data were used to investigate environmental changes of the lake. The results demonstrate that since the late glacial, the basin has directly and/or indirectly received its moisture from various climatic systems. During the early Holocene, both the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and the mid-latitude westerlies (MLW) intensified and consequently the basin received higher precipitation. This interpretation is supported by higher content of total organic matter (mean: 8.2%), finer-grained sediments with low δ18O values (mean: -3.5‰), as well ...