A tragedy that has no end. Afghanistan’s past and present

Abstract

The author of the review of J.A. Plyais’s monograph «The Tragedy of Afghanistan. From origins to our days», believes that the scientific value of the study lies in the critical analysis of the Soviet doctrine of non-capitalist (socialist) development of backward or recently freed from colonial oppression countries. The book makes a correct conclusion that the attempts of the USSR to direct Afghanistan along the path of socialist development, and later by the US and its allies to instill democracy in the country, indicate that radical changes in any country are doomed to failure if its socioeconomic and political development, as well as the importance of national traditions, particularly religion, are not taken into account.