Help me out with this international relations question please...

[rockymountaindem]

I'm having my final exam for my sophomore level IR class in a few hours, and I was looking at the example questions on the class website. All but one of them has a designated answer in italics. The last one for some reason does not. Oh, it's multiple choice, which I thought was an odd decision for such a complex subject. You'll see why.

4.What has contributed to the persistent level of conflict in Afghanistan during the last quarter century?

a.Afghani cultural traditions
b.A particular interpretation of Islam
c.The presence of al-Qaeda operatives
d.A steady supply of weapons from other countries.

If you ask me, I'd say the answer is all four. The various ethinc divisions have resulted in lots of strife, which I think goes under option a. The Taliban inspired the Northern Alliance to fight against them for nearly a decade, which goes under b. Al Quaeda is the reason international troops are there now, answer c. And as for d, they wouldn't be having this fight if it weren't for the massive flow of Soviet and American weapons. You can't fight without weapons, and Afghanistan isn't exactly making any of its own.

What's the deal with this question?

[Kali]

1. maybe its NOT multiple choice

maybe you are supposed to answer in terms of how those four have contributed - as you sort of did (better fluff up the answers some more)

[rockymountaindem]

3. Nope, it's a scantron test.

100 questions, two hours long. All the essay questions were on the two midterms.

[punpirate]

2. I would have to say...

d.

Reading the question gives the answer: "level of conflict" and "last quarter century."

The first three possibilities have contributed in the last nine or ten years, not the last twenty-five. In fact, there was no al-Qaeda, as such, until the very early `90s.

If one goes back to the early `70s, the country was relatively peaceful, so the cultural conflicts and interpretations of Islam are more recent phenomena. The acceleration of conflict came with Soviets in 1979 and the very large amount of arms smuggled into the country with US aid to combat Soviet occupation.

Cheers.

[CBGLuthier]

4. To me, the answer is

The former USSR and the United States were responsible for the "persistent level of conflict" in Afghanistan.

That and Pakistan's interference by creating the Taliban.

So answer D comes closest except it kind of blurs the issue.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. I would say d...

because, if you will remember, the Russians were in there years before the Taliban took over and we were arming the Mujahadeen. After the Russians pulled out, everyone pulled out the stops arming their buddies.

A is a possibility, though, because they've always had clan warfare for fun and profit, but I'd still go for D. Outside support for the various factions probably kept them going for longer than they would without it.

B and C are red herrings.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I would say d...

because, if you will remember, the Russians were in there years before the Taliban took over and we were arming the Mujahadeen. After the Russians pulled out, everyone pulled out the stops arming their buddies.

A is a possibility, though, because they've always had clan warfare for fun and profit, but I'd still go for D. Outside support for the various factions probably kept them going for longer than they would without it.

B and C are red herrings.

[rockymountaindem]

7. I would say d. as well

because it comes from the liberal philosophy of IR. That seems to be where the prof's opinions lie. It is also probably the *best* answer, because of the reasons you cite.

[HamdenRice]

8. This is a logic question, not a history question

I agree with other posters. This is more a question of political logic than history or IR.

In other words, persistent conflict began in the late 1970s with the invasion by the USSR and the US sending in weapons for the resistance. So Afghani cultural tradition, and a particular interpretation of Islam, which existed before then, cannot be the necessary answer -- the independent variable. Similarly, the conflict began before al-Qaeda arrived, so their presence cannot be the necessary independent variable.

The only logical answer is d. Weapons began to stream in at the time of the invasion and has been a consistent feature of the conflict.