Larry p goodson biography for kids

The content here may be outdated or no longer functioning. By Larry P. Goodson is an associate professor of international studies at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. In , the ethnic group known as the Pushtuns united under Ahmad Shah Durrani into the kingdom of Afghans.

Larry P. Goodson is Professor of Middle East Studies at the U.S. Army War College, where he is the only person to hold the General Dwight D.

Until the early 20th century, Afghanistan primarily was a buffer state, caught between the expansionist Russian and British empires and the contracting Safavid Dynasty in Persia. Afghanistan's present borders and national identity took shape gradually, as Afghan monarchs fought wars and negotiated boundaries with British and Russian conquerors.

The Third Anglo-Afghan War brought full independence for Afghanistan, but conflicts over modernization and political power prevented any single monarch from establishing a stable or long-lasting reign. For most of its history, Afghanistan has had a central government that could not intrude very heavily into the countryside. Rugged topography and geographic isolation, combined with deep ethnic, linguistic, tribal, racial, and regional cleavages, created a country that was unified by Islam while it was divided by hundreds of variations on its practice.

PERSONAL: Born in Mount Olive, NC; married Tomasa Rodriguez; children: Alexandra, Jonathan.

Qawm the group to which the individual belongs, e. Between the s and s, leadership shifted back and forth between ministers who established cordial relations with the Soviet Union and those who favored Western notions of democracy. By the s, Islamism Islamic fundamentalism or radical Islam had enjoyed a great resurgence throughout the Islamic world, from the Khomeini Revolution in Iran, the attacks of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Hamas-led Intifada in Palestine, to the social welfare activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Communists seized power in Afghanistan in a coup. The secular and centralized approach of Communist rule sparked a rebellion in the countryside. As the rebellion grew in strength, the U.