The role of communication in the development of Afghanistan

Abstract

Afghanistan became a meeting point of several civilizations in early history due to the fact that most of the important commercial highways connecting east and west passed through this country. As a result the country became the cradle of Buddhic and Greco-Buddhic cultures and the centre of several empires. At present, the Afghans are again trying to make Afghanistan the meeting point of east and west. This time not by animals and caravan routes, but by building modern highways and airports, which in addition to providing facilities for the goods in transit through Afghanistan will facilitate the internal communication of the country. It is the aim of this thesis to discuss the importance of communications both internal and external, with particular reference to the geographical problems which inhabit the development of communication in the country, making its improvement costly and difficult. Massive mountain ranges, vast deserts and rivers separate the social and economic regions in the country and isolate Afghanistan from the outside world. To these may be added the problem of variable climate, uneven distribution of population and most important of all the lack of sufficient capital. The second aspect of the thesis is the attempts which have been made for the development of communications by a government fully aware of the importance of communications; a large part of the developmental budget and of foreign aid was spent on this sector of the economy in both the development plans 1956-67. The efforts to improve communications need to be stepped up further, to hasten the development of agriculture, industry, trade and above all the social and political integration of the country. Moreover Afghanistan must be increasingly linked with the outside world.