A slow reckoning : the USSR, the Afghan communists, and Islam / Vassily Klimentov.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Klimentov, Vassily, 1986- author.

Series:

NIU series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies.

NIU series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islam and politics--Afghanistan.

Islam and politics--Soviet Union.

Communism and Islam--Afghanistan.

Afghanistan--History--Soviet occupation, 1979-1989--Religious aspects--Islam.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (317 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Northern Illinois University Press, [2024]

Summary:

A Slow Reckoning examines the Soviet Union's and the Afghan communists' views of and policies toward Islam and Islamism during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989). As Vassily Klimentov demonstrates, the Soviet and communist Afghan disregard for Islam was telling of the overall communist approach to reforming Afghanistan and helps explain the failure of their modernization project.A Slow Reckoning reveals how during most of the conflict Babrak Karmal, the ruler installed by the Soviets, instrumentalized Islam in support of his rule while retaining a Marxist-Leninist platform. Similarly, the Soviets at all levels failed to give Islam its due importance as communist ideology and military considerations dominated their decision making. This approach to Islam only changed after Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Karmal by Mohammad Najibullah and prepared to withdraw Soviet forces. Discarding Marxism-Leninism for Islam proved the correct approach, but it came too late to salvage the Soviet nation-building project. A Slow Reckoning also shows how Soviet leaders only started seriously paying attention to an Islamist threat from Afghanistan to Central Asia after 1986. While the Soviets had concerns related to Islamism in 1979, only the KGB believed the threat to be potent. The Soviet elites never fully conceptualized Islamism, continuing to see it as an ideology the United States, Iran, or Pakistan could instrumentalize at will. They believed the Islamists had little agency and that their retrograde ideology could not find massive appeal among progressive Soviet Muslims. In this, they were only partly right.

Contents:

A Slow Reckoning

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

1. The Basmachi and Soviet Islam

2. Khalq's Islam and the Decision to Intervene

3. Ideology in the Karmal Era

4. Najibullah's Islamization

5. The USSR, Afghanistan, and the Muslim World

6. Moscow's Islamist Threat

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Klimentov, Vassily A Slow Reckoning

ISBN:

9781501773822

1501773828

9781501773815

150177381X

OCLC:

1417196743