ABSTRACT
The "Afghan situation" actually encompasses several distinct aspects that, while related, are separate realities. If the Afghans have one thing to teach the rest of the world it is how to resist against great odds and to survive. Afghans are a proud people who are willing to fight for what they believe in and to die if necessary, but this pronounced cultural characteristic has its negative side, too. The people of Afghanistan took a wait-and-see attitude toward the new government in the first few months after the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan came to power, for they had seen governments come and go before, and the leadership change seldom affected their daily lives. A more basic problem with the insurgency leadership is that no one, neither the Peshawar groups nor the Kabul government, speaks for the vast majority of the people of Afghanistan. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
