Sub-Nationalism and Nationalism: The Dilemma of Power and Ethnicity in Afghanistan

Abstract

Afghanistan is a multinational country with a weak nationalism. The fragility of nationalism and nations often has been due to races, religion, and stereotypes; however, in Afghanistan, the centralization of power has created fragility and significant rifts among ethnicities which the outcome is sub-nationalism. Sub-nationalism could be harmless in a decentralized political system, however, not definitely in a centralized political system. Throughout history, the centrality of authority strengthened ethnic cleavages, rivalries of ethnics overpower, single-ethnic hegemony, weak governance, and significantly disrupted the unity of ethnics. The big hurdle of Afghanistan for being a nation-state has been the centralization of power. Most authors and pamphlets advise concentration of power versus decentralized system in the country to preserve the unity of ethnicities. At the same time, Afghanistan experienced that such a system did not trigger unity of the nationalities.

Afghanistan in the Trap of an Ethnic Security Dilemma: Is There Any Solution on the Horizon?

“…The second category of scholars (Reynolds 2007, Adeney 2008, Afzal 2022) believe that multi-ethnic societies will not succeed in forming a stable state unless there is a reasonable distribution of power in place. Indeed, federal and autonomous arrangements could help in a number of countries in which some groups feel excluded (Reynolds 2007, p. 53).…”