THE WEAPONISATION OF AFGHANISTAN AND THE EFFECTS OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS PROLIFERATION ON CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Abstract

Afghanistan, home to one of the longest running conflicts in the modern era, is a land of extremes, from its history to the development of the largest segmented tribal society in the world, where the ethos of the warrior archetype continues to exist to the detriment of every single invader since the beginning of recorded history in the region. This study, cognizant of the dire insecurity inherent within the conflict environment of Afghanistan, sets out to provide a holistic narrative of the processes, methods, techniques, and resources used in the financing, acquisition, transportation, possession and use of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the country, while also analysing whether or not a correlation exists between the mass diffusion and availability of SALW and the direct and indirect effects of their possession and use on the dynamics of conflict. As such, this study hypothesises that the mass diffusion of SALW assists the exacerbation of the conflict in Afghanistan. An analysis of the essential dynamics involved in the eruption and propagation of conflicts is also provided in chapter two through an appreciation of the escalation of conflicts to higher intensities of violence by introducing the concept of the acceleration of conflict, the rate of increase in intensity of the conflict, and how this may be contributed to by the introduction of SALW at significant points at which the conflict is susceptible to rising to a higher degree of conflict intensity. Furthermore, to amplify the understanding being imparted, chapter three illustrates the intrinsic historical evolution of the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity, and how this has affected the development of the defensive structural organisation of Afghanistan’s tribal societies through unrelenting invasions and conflicts by parties both external and indigenous to Afghanistan, and the consequential development of culturally reinforced regulatory structures in relation to the possession and use of SALW; which impact upon the way individuals and communities may perceive, behave, react and be affected by the possession and use of SALW. The weaponisation of Afghanistan is a primary element of discussion and analysis in this study. Therefore, chapters four to seven provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the historical processes, mechanisms, techniques, and methods used in the development of an indigenous production capacity, trade, transportation, as well as the rationale for the mass diffusion of SALW in Afghanistan from their first use and introduction into the region in 1526 until 11 September 2001. However, the specific processes, mechanisms and networks established by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arms pipeline through Operation Cyclone, which was operational throughout the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, is emphasised in chapter six. Moreover, the CIA arms pipeline’s associated financial and logistical problems, and self-perpetuation of its networks, processes, and methods are analysed within the context of the geostrategic rationale behind the diffusion of SALW in Afghanistan and how they continue to contribute to the intractability of the Afghan conflict. In order to appreciate the central proposition of this study, chapter eight analyses the direct effects of the possession and use of SALW, through their physical and psychological impacts on individuals and collectives, and their resulting behaviour; while, chapter nine analyses their indirect effects through the institutionalisation and militarisation of the social environment and the promotion of violent alternatives to negotiation, the lowering of the threshold of violence, encouragement of criminal activities, amplification of social insecurity, increase in SALW possession through the security dilemma, emboldening of the disaffected, and the facilitation of the entrenchment of cycles of violence in the conflict environment. In respect to the central proposition, this study finds that there is an inherent difficulty in divorcing the specific individual impacts and effects of the proliferation of SALW from those impacts and effects of major conventional weapons that are usually used in-sync with the former, as well as the macro-scale geostrategic, regional, national and local imperatives of the conflicting parties throughout the scope, depth, and chronological development of the Afghan conflict. The discussion, therefore, emphasises the complexity of the protraction of conflict through the inherent diversity in the contention of ideas, beliefs, values and interests that are confined within the geographical boundaries, and historical, socio-cultural and strategic contexts of Afghanistan. As such, this study finds that an absolute correlation between the mass availability of SALW and the exacerbation of conflict may not be possible; however, this study recognises that the available evidence, as discussed here, does significantly support the essence of the central proposition.