Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, who had been in political retreat since the fall of the predominantly Pashtun Taliban, are trying to re-establish what they see as their natural dominance. Their re-emergence as a political force, and the traditional fear of Pashtun authority that is held by Afghanistan’s other ethnic groups, have polarized the constitutional assembly being held in Kabul along ethnic lines. The Pashtuns founded Afghanistan and have ruled it for all but about four years of its history. But the rise and fall of the Taliban, who emerged from the Pashtun south, discredited the Pashtuns’ rule and empowered the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance, which had allied with the United States. The most powerful positions in the government were largely taken by the Northern Alliance, except that of interim president, which was filled by Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.