INSIDE AFGHANISTAN

October 2001
		Afghanistan after the Taliban: Two experts responded to your questions.

Forum introduction Would a Western-style democracy be best for Afghanistan? How do we prevent a repetition of the power vacuum after the Soviets left? Would a new Afghan government commit to freedom of religion? What is happening to commerce in Afghanistan? What do we know about the Northern Alliance? How can we endure the voices of women will be heard? Is there a feasible solution for a multi-ethnic Afghan state?     Online Special: The Response Online Special: Afghanistan Sept. 28, 2001: Two experts discuss the battle between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. Sept. 20, 2001: A look at Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Martha Yanamura of Claremont, California asks: As this attack is taking place, what is happening in Afghanistan with commerce? What is happening with the business world? Are there any shops open for business anywhere in the country? Any industry? Patricia Gossman responds: There has been very little manufacturing inside Afghanistan since the war(s) began. The country was severely underdeveloped even before the Soviet occupation. There is trade, and that continues. Even in Kabul, shops remain open. Commercial transport of goods has continued but has been limited by the flight of people from the cities and fear of bombing. Prices have risen, naturally, as some goods, especially food, has become scarce in many areas.   Thomas Gouttierre responds: Afghans are natural entrepreneurs. Those shops that can be maintained open will probably be open because Afghans need to eat and they need to have those things that these shops provide. But unfortunately at this time the economy is in dire straits, not only because of the twenty-three years of continuous warfare in Afghanistan, also because of the four years of drought, and the major commercial product going out of Afghanistan these days unfortunately is opium-based heroin. That is not the kind of thing that we need to have coming from Afghanistan; it corrupts the whole society. Afghans are great as people who transport goods from one place to another and help set up shops. I always admired the entrepreneurial spirit of the Afghans. But right now, for the most part, Afghanistan's economy and its industry is in a very, very sad state after all these many years of war. Nobody is encouraged to invest anything in Afghanistan, let alone the Afghans, because they don't know what's coming tomorrow. And what usually does come tomorrow for Afghans is more of the tragic circumstances under which they're living.