Beyond the “Wild Tribes” Understanding Modern Afghanistan and Its Diaspora By Ceri Oeppen and Angela Schlenkhoff, eds. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. 223 pages.)

Abstract

We have come to expect nothing but bad news about Afghanistan, nothing
but negative prognoses of that troubled state from policymakers, pundits, and
journalists. Only rarely do we hear what scholars of Afghan studies have to
say. In Beyond the “Wild Tribes”: Understanding Modern Afghanistan and
Its Diaspora, the country and its people are presented in a far more complicated
fashion than the usual this-place-is-doomed mantra. Contributions include
a review and critique of research methodologies in Afghanistan and the
diaspora, the role of gender in community-based justice, models of national
and local governance, the refugee warrior, and migration. There is much to
like about this book, and even those knowledgeable about the complex problems
plaguing the fledgling state will learn something ...