Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acronyms
- Glossary
- Maps
- Introduction
- Chapter One Gandhara Lands: Wrestling with Pashtun Identity and History
- Chapter Two Imperial Hubris: The Afghan Taliban in Ascendance
- Chapter Three Masculinities in Conflict: Western Pedagogy and the Return of the Afghan Taliban
- Chapter Four Understanding Pakistan: Geopolitical Legacies and Perspectives on Violence
- Chapter Five Understanding Civic Sentiments and Movements in Pakistan: Stalemated Cycle, or a Way Forward?
- Chapter Six The United States and Pakistan: Friends or Foes!
- Chapter Seven The European Union and Southwest Asia: Perceptions, Policies and Permutations
- Conclusion: Pashtun Troubled Lands, Uncertain Southwest Asia or a New Beginning!
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Seven - The European Union and Southwest Asia: Perceptions, Policies and Permutations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2017
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acronyms
- Glossary
- Maps
- Introduction
- Chapter One Gandhara Lands: Wrestling with Pashtun Identity and History
- Chapter Two Imperial Hubris: The Afghan Taliban in Ascendance
- Chapter Three Masculinities in Conflict: Western Pedagogy and the Return of the Afghan Taliban
- Chapter Four Understanding Pakistan: Geopolitical Legacies and Perspectives on Violence
- Chapter Five Understanding Civic Sentiments and Movements in Pakistan: Stalemated Cycle, or a Way Forward?
- Chapter Six The United States and Pakistan: Friends or Foes!
- Chapter Seven The European Union and Southwest Asia: Perceptions, Policies and Permutations
- Conclusion: Pashtun Troubled Lands, Uncertain Southwest Asia or a New Beginning!
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
‘The Western media propagates an image of a romantic Afghanistan, one that cannot be conquered or tamed. Its people are warriors whose only purpose is to resist and fight; they are unruly natives unwelcoming to modern society. Afghanistan is a mystery that no outsider can unravel or know […] American and British policies and military strategies have been based on these perceived notions, as if Afghans were not capable of change or progress, as they were frozen in time and with tribal mentalities.’
Fariba NawaThe EU, through its numerous individual members and multilateral agencies, and Southwest Asia inclusive of Pakistan and Afghanistan, both have maintained a multidimensional relationship, which since September 11 was definitely overshadowed by security-related priorities. Development, governance, poverty reduction, education, gender rights, and assistance in reforming infrastructure found their way within official pronouncements, but frankly speaking it was the pre-eminence of security-related concerns which brought these regions closer together, though in no less ambivalent a way. Despite the salience of security and geopolitical imperatives, the historical, Diasporic, academic, commercial and cultural interfaces have, in recent years, tended to be either overlooked or get de-emphasised on both sides, whereas winning the war, fighting terrorism and neutralizing extremism resounded as a familiar mantra and fait accompli. In one sense, this relationship is almost as old as the EU itself. In 1952, its earliest incarnation initiated its presence in the Indus lands, though most of the West European nations had already established ambassadorial posts in Karachi and Kabul. The earliest phase in this newer relationship was characterized by mutual curiosity in addition to a modicum of assistance in some infrastructure-building areas. Both sides were still in the early processes of their respective redefinition, which again, in a rather curious way, stemmed from post–World War II geopolitical considerations, interests and imperatives. The ideological division of Europe preceded the partition of the subcontinent just by a few years, though a generation down the decades it has successfully overcome that sundering.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Pashtun Identity and Geopolitics in Southwest Asia , pp. 115 - 132Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2016