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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael M who wrote (34942)	10/22/2001 7:25:25 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 82486

Frankly the chance of a true functional democracy in Afghanistan is nil. Population is too diverse. Diversity can make things more dificult but itself isn't the reason that democracy in Afghanistan is a tough idea to implement. Its not just diverse but people identify with their diverse groups or tribes to a strong extent. Also the level of wealth and education is very low and the place has a history of violence and is host to many extreme ideas. Combine extremism, tribalism, poverty, and very little edication, with violence and no democratic tradition and you get a place where it is hard to get a functioning democracy. Germany was poor after WWII and it also had a tough time during the depression, but the country had been relativly rich at times and had a good education system. Most Germans thought of themselves as Germans first and only then if at all some smaller ethnic group. Germany had been at war a lot but it was not subject to constant internal war. Japan also had many advantages that Afghanistan did not. It would be nice to see Afghanistan turn in to a rich modernized democracy but the odds of that are close to 0. Tim