Antonio Giustozzi, The Eye of the Storm: Cities in the Vortex of Afghanistan's Civil Wars, LSE Development Studies Institute - Crisis States Research Centre, 30 November 2009
EXCERPT: "The relationship between the urban and rural world is examined here from the standpoint of the role of local leaders and their retinues of armed men, their impact on the cities and the impact of the cities on them. In periods of state weakness or disintegration, Afghan cities were unable to resist the 'solidarity groups' which had coagulated in the countryside under the pressure of constant conflict. The domination of the cities over the countryside, therefore, was reversed and the cities were conquered. However, the relationship was not just one way. The cities were necessary to the 'warlords' who had emerged in the countryside to run the polities that they tried to establish and had some influence in shaping them. However, after 2001 the developing relationship between cities and 'warlords' was cut short by foreign intervention, which re-empowered the cities and encouraged urban strata to distance themselves from the power groups which came from the villages."
Read the full report [pdf].
