Political Contexts of Afghan Emigration
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-2-98-117
Abstract
The article delves into the gradual process of Afghan diasporas’ formation and compares their status in Euro-Atlantic and Eastern political contexts, using a comparative analysis based on the concept of social orders. While some Afghan diaspora groups have successfully integrated into local societies and organized to promote their interests, others have failed to influence local authorities and have become marginalized. The paper also examines the current state of Afghan diaspora communities, identifying reasons for their fragmented nature. According to the authors, this reflects the ongoing process of shaping an all-Afghan identity. The study also focuses on the conditions that enable some countries’ state institutions to use emigrant diasporas as proxy tools in their foreign policy and on the readiness of diaspora elites to fulfil such functions. This highlights the relevance of the issue when it comes to understanding a range of current political events. The potential of Afghan diasporas in different countries is also assessed in terms of their abilities to influence the ongoing processes in Afghanistan. The analysis of diasporas’ involvement in the recipient countries’ foreign policy interests reveals the diversity of situations and the lack of a direct correlation between such practices and the type of the countries’ social orders. The paper provides the authors’ periodization of the Afghan emigration from the aftermath of the overthrow of the monarchy in 1973 to the time of the research.
About the Authors
A. A. Knyazev
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Alexander A. Knyazev, PhD (Hist.), Leading Research Fellow, Institute for International Studies,
76, Vernadsky avenue, Moscow, 119454.
Competing Interests:
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
N. Ya. Gulam
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Ninel Ya. Gulam, PhD student, Institute for International Studies,
76, Vernadsky avenue, Moscow, 119454.
Competing Interests:
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
References
1. Avdashkin, Andrey A. “The Problem of Diasporas in Foreign and Domestic Literature: the Second Half of the XX – Beginning of XXI Century.” Vestnik YuzhnoUral’skogo professional’nogo instituta, no. 3(12) (2013): 4–12 [In Russian].
2. Bazanov, Varfolomey “Diaspora as a System.” RUDN Journal of Sociology, no. 3 (2011): 24–33 [In Russian].
3. Dzhakupova, Cholpon I. Bezhentsy v Kyrgyzstane: 90-e gody XX veka. Bishkek: Ilim, 2000 [In Russian].
4. Zaremba-Pike, Svetlana S., and Zarina Kh. Lepshokova. “Perceived Discrimination, Religiosity and Mental Health of Afghan Refugees in Russia.” Minbar. Islamic Studies 14, no. 1 (2021): 175–200 [In Russian].
5. Ivashchenko, Aleksandr S. “Afganskaya vooruzhennaya oppozitsiya v amerikanskoi politike.” SShA: Ekonomika. Politika. Ideologiya, no. 11 (1994): 96–106 [In Russian].
6. Ivashchenko, Aleksandr S. “Voenno-finansovaya i ekonomicheskaya pomoshch’ SShA afganskomu soprotivleniyu (1979-1989 gg.).” In Nauchnye trudy Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Sotsial’no-istoricheskie nauki, 238–244. Moscow: Prometei, 1999 [In Russian].
7. Iskandarov, Kosimsho I. “Afganskie bezhentsy v Respublike Tadzhikistan (1990-e – 2005 gg.).” In Afganistan i bezopasnost’ Tsentral’noi Azii. Vyp. 2, edited by Alexander A. Knyazev, 11–31. Bishkek: Ilim, 2005 [In Russian].
8. Kirichenko, Vladimir P. “Participation of the Hazaras of Afghanistan in the Syrian conflict.” Russia and the Muslim World, no. 4(314) (2019): 70–78 [In Russian].
9. Knyazev, Alexander A. “Afghan Identity: Prospects for Defragmentation.” Journal of International Analytics 15, no. 1 (2024): 210–218 [In Russian].
10. Knyazev, Alexander. Afganskii krizis i bezopasnost’ Tsentral’noi Azii (XIX – nachalo XXI v.). Dushanbe: Donish, 2004 [In Russian].
11. Korgun, Victor G. “Gde u afgantsev rodina.” In Afganistan i bezopasnost’ Tsentral’noi Azii. Vyp. 2, edited by Alexander A. Knyazev, 3–20. Bishkek: Ilim, 2005 [In Russian].
12. Korgun, Victor G. Istoriya Afganistana. XX vek. Moscow: IV RAN, Kraft+, akad. nauk, In-t vostokovedeniya, 2004 [In Russian].
13. Korgun, Victor G. “SShA v Afganistane: missiya nevypolnima?” Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 25. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya i mirovaya politika, no. 3 (2011): 106–133 [In Russian].
14. Loshkaryov, Ivan D. “Evolyutsiya ponyatiya «diaspora» v politicheskoi nauke.” Etnosotsium i mezhnatsional’naya kul’tura, no. 4(106) (2017): 70–78 [In Russian].
15. Norik, Boris V. “Afghan Migrants in Iran: Internal Security Threat or Future Proxy Force?” Social Novelties and Social Sciences, no. 1 (2023): 122–138 [In Russian].
16. North, Douglass C., John J.L. Wallis, and Barry R. Weingast. Nasilie i sotsial’nye poryadki. Kontseptual’nye ramki dlya interpretatsii pis’mennoi istorii chelovechestva. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo instituta Gaidara, 2011[In Russian].
17. Okimbekov, Ubaid V. “Population of Afghanistan: Dynamics of Numbers, Composition and Conflicts on the Basis of Ethnicity.” Papers of the Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS, no. 26 (2019): 307–345 [In Russian].
18. Olimova, Saodat K. “Tadzhikistan – pervaya ostanovka na puti afganskoi migratsii.” Central Asia and the Caucasus. Luleå, no. 1 (1998): 105–113 [In Russian].
19. Sazhenov, Nikolay D. Vnutrennie faktory vo vneshnei politike Afganistana na sovremennom etape (2001 – nachalo 2020 g.). Moscow: IV RAN, 2020 [In Russian].
20. Sikoev, Ruslan R. “Politicheskii oblik afganskoi diaspory.” Asia and Africa Today, no. 3 (1999a): 20–25 [In Russian].
21. Sikoev, Ruslan R. “Emigratsiya i sud’by strany.” Asia and Africa Today, no. 11 (1999b): 46–48 [In Russian].
22. Spolnikov, Victor N. Afganistan: islamskaya kontrrevolyutsiya. Moscow, 1987 [In Russian].
23. Spolnikov, Victor N. Afganistan: islamskaya oppozitsiya. Istoki i tseli. Moscow: Nauka, 1990 [In Russian].
24. Sporyshev, Peter P. “Diaspora: fenomen i ponyatie (k probleme vyrabotki politologicheskogo podkhoda).” Ekonomicheskie strategii, no. 3 (2009): 122–127 [In Russian].
25. Tsapenko, Irina P. “The Afghan Migration Crisis and U.S. Policy.” Polis. Political Studies, no. 1 (2023): 42–59 [In Russian].
26. Anthias, Floya. “Evaluating `Diaspora’: Beyond Ethnicity?” Sociology 32, no. 3 (August 1998): 557–580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038598032003009.
27. Cohen, Robin. “Diasporas and the Nation-State: From Victims to Challengers.” International Affairs 72, no. 3 (July 1996): 507–520. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2625554.
28. Danstrøm, Matilde S., Nauja Kleist, and Ninna N. Sørensen. Somali and Afghan Diaspora Associations in Development and Relief Cooperation. Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), 2015.
29. Fischer, Carolin. “Imagined Communities? Relations of Social Identities and Social Organisation among Afghan Diaspora Groups in Germany and the UK.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 38, no. 1 (February 2017): 18–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2016.1269060.
30. Green, Nile. “Tribe, Diaspora, and Sainthood in Afghan History.” Journal of Asian Studies 67, no. 1 (2008): 171–211. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911808000065.
31. King, Charles, and Neil J. Melvin. “Diaspora Politics: Ethnic Linkages, Foreign Policy, and Security in Eurasia.” International Security 24, no. 3 (January 2000): 108–138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/016228899560257.
32. Sadat, Mir H. “Hyphenating Afghaniyat (Afghanness) in the Afghan Diaspora.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 28, no. 3 (December 2008): 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602000802547898.
33. Safi, Ali A., and Mathias Czaika. “The Transnational Engagement of Afghan Diaspora Organizations: Drivers of Diaspora Specialization.” Global Networks 25, no. 1 (2024): e12484. https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12484.
34. Shain, Yossi. “Ethnic Diasporas and U.S. Foreign Policy.” Political Science Quaterly 109, no. 5 (December 1994): 811–841.
Review
For citations:
Knyazev A.A., Gulam N.Ya. Political Contexts of Afghan Emigration. Journal of International Analytics. 2025;16(2):98-117. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-2-98-117
Views:
401
Email this article 