Attached below are a copy of the slides from my cultural project:
From Modernity to Extremism: The Taliban's Affect on Afghanistan
Unfortunately, a PowerPoint was too large to attach, so the file is in PDF format. As a result, you cannot listen to the NPR interview in slide 9 through the PDF, but you can listen to it here.
Below is a brief synopsis of my project:
Islam has a role in Afghanistan for centuries, with the religion first being introduced in the region the country currently occupies in 642. It several centuries for Islam to fully spread across Afghanistan, where it still remains the predominantly Muslim; in fact, over 99% of the nation identifies as Muslim. Moreover, adding to Islam's influence in the nation, it serves as Afghanistan's state religion.
Jumping ahead to the mid-20th century, Afghanistan, for the time, was a very modern nation. Women were not wearing burqas, education was a possibility for men and women, the nation was not engaged in any wars (foreign or civil) and political freedom was rampant. However, rural areas of the country maintained conservative beliefs relative to the modernity seen in urban areas and cities such as Kabul.
Although it seemed that Afghanistan was on a path to progress, war tarnished everything the country was positioning itself towards. The Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan left the nation in unfavorable state and even after the Soviets' departure, civil warfare soon ensued in Afghanistan.
The turmoil in Afghanistan allowed an extremist insurgent group, the Taliban, to gain power. The Taliban strictly adhered to Sharia law, and used violence and terror to ensure all Afghans adhered. The Taliban's action led to the suppression of women's rights, education and any type of freedom found in the modern world.
Although the Taliban's reign in government only lasted from 1996 to 2001, the insurgent group still maintains a presence. The next few years will be crucial in determining if the Taliban's presence heightens to its previous level or diminishes. With both new leadership and U.S. troop withdrawal slated for 2014, the next few years will shape Afghanistan path towards its golden age of during the 1940s to 1970s.
The sources for my project were:
Historical Sketch of Buddhism and Islam in Afghanistan [Alexander Berzin]
Country Profile: Afghanistan [Library of Congress]
Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan... [Foreign Policy]
Afghanistan's Untold Story: Stability, Tourists, Miniskirts [CNN]
Taliban Causes Most Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan, U.N. Says [NYT]
How Anti-Islam Movie Helps the Taliban [The Daily Beast]
Photos Of Afghanistan's Past: Modernity Lost [NPR]
I used 27 words in my project, which were the following:
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