Central Asian Struggles Ch 18.5 CST

Whose Who? Transcaucasian Republics are Armenia, Azerbijian, and Georgia All lie in the Caucaus Mountains between the Black and the Caspian Sea. Refer to the following maps in your text, p. 591, A 20, and A 21

Whose Who? Central Asian Republics are Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajiikstan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan All former Soviet Republics that lie east of the Caspian Sea and extend to the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains Refer to pg. 591, A 20, and A21

Central Asia

Freedom in Central Asia Brings New Challenges Why such severe Economic Problems? –They relied heavily on the U.S.S.R. –Consequently they had a hard time on their own. –Example: The Soviets converted much of the valuable farmland to grow cotton. Dependence on a single crop hurt their economies.

Freedom in Central Asia Brings New Challenges Regional civil wars have hurt this region’s development because: Many different ethnic groups exist with long standing hostility toward each other. Serious ethnic clashes were prevented when they were part of the U.S.S.R. After the Soviet Union collapsed, long simmering ethnic rivalries erupted into wars.

Afghanistan Struggles for Freedom Two major Empires wanted to control Afghanistan. –Britian wanted to protect the northern borders of its Indian Empire. –Russia wanted access to the Indian Ocean through Afghanistan.

1919 Independence but???? First a monarchy In 1964 made a constitution and tried to become more democratic, but the officials and the people could not agree on reforms, so system failed.

Cold War Afghanistan’s government became more stable and established relations with many Western European countries. Caught between the U.S. & the U.S.S.R in the Cold War. Military coups occurred with the last one having ties to the Soviets. The mujahideen (Afghanis) rebelled against the Soviet supported gov’t. Soviet troops invaded to put down the rebellion in 1979 and 1980.

Rise and Fall of the Taliban (and Rise Again?) The Afghans with U.S. help forced the Soviets to withdraw after nearly 10 years of bloody warfare. The Taliban, a conservative Islamic group, emerged as victors. Life changed in Afghanistan. The Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan from

Life with the Taliban They applied an extreme interpretation of Islamic law to all aspects of Afghani Life: –Women were restricted from going to school or holding jobs. –Punishment for violating the rules included whipping, amputation, imprisonment, execution –By allowing terrorist groups to train there, the Taliban increased the animosity between Afghanistan and the United States.

U.S. against the Taliban After 9/11/2001 attack of Al Qaeda, U.S. demanded the Taliban to turn over Osama Bin Laden. 10/ 2001: When they refused, U. S. bombed Taliban’s air defenses, airfields, and command centers. On the ground U.S. provided assistance to anti-Taliban forces such as the Northern Alliance.

Osama bin Laden

U.S. against the Taliban (cont.) By 12/2001 U.S. had driven the Taliban from power and into hiding in the mountains. Hamid Karzai became the new leader facing great problems: –More than a dozen ethnic groups with distinct language and cultural patterns hinders unification. –Economy is in shambles so they are becoming more reliant on growing and exporting illegal poppy crops (heroin source).

Hamid Karzai