Afghanistan summary for the British public of military, economic, and other key facts

Five of the World’s top 10 largest armies are in the region – four are nuclear powers

Montage © Facts4EU.Org

Five out of the six countries bordering Afghanistan are more than 93% Muslim

A Facts4EU.Org two-part report

1. Summary of military, economic, islamic facts about Afghanistan (This report)
2. Will the soil of Helmand, soaked in British soldiers' blood, now be mined by China for billions?

A great deal has been written about Afghanistan in recent weeks and the situation is still highly volatile as we go to press. Most of the commentary has revolved around the politics, the realities on the ground concerning the fall of Kabul, the Taliban takeover, and the need to repatriate many thousands of Westerners and of Afghans who assisted them in the last 20 years.

Today Facts4EU.Org brings readers something different

Below we present some basic facts about the region, and about Afghanistan’s neighbours.

Basic facts can sometimes be misleading, as they can hide important but nuanced details. Nevertheless we hope readers will find what follows gives an interesting overall perspective on the crisis and on the players who may become involved on an increasing basis. This summary is only intended to give readers a feel for some basic facts which have not necessarily been covered in broadcasts.

1. The military perspective in the region

There are many ways of measuring a country’s military importance. Below we are showing only a snapshot based on two criteria: the size of each country’s standing army by world ranking and whether it has nuclear weapons or not.

1. China 2,185,000 - Nuclear power
2. India 1,455,550 - Unofficial nuclear power
5. Russia 1,014,000 - Nuclear power
6. Iran 661,000 - Not yet a nuclear power
7. Pakistan 651,800 - Unofficial nuclear power

[Source: The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London, England]

2. The religious aspect in Afghanistan’s six neighbouring countries

Afghanistan borders six countries. Five out of the six are between 93.0-99.5% Muslim countries in terms of their populations. The sixth is the massive country of China which has a tiny Muslim population overall, but naturally this disguises regional disparities.

Iran: 99.5%
Tajikistan: 96.7%
Uzbekistan: 96.7%
Pakistan: 96.4%
Turkmenistan: 93.0%
China: 1.8%
Afghanistan: 99.7%

[Source: The Pew Research Center, Washington, USA]

As most readers know, there are branches of Islam and these are very important. In broad terms the Taliban are Sunnis whereas Iran, for example, is predominantly Shia, which has been the source of difficult relations. However in a summary such as this we cannot go into every detail. It suffices to say that religion plays a big part in the upcoming politics and also on issues like human rights (below).

3. Human rights and the rule of law

Religion most definitely plays its part in issues like human rights. Again in broad terms, all the countries in the region have appalling records in this regard. Some of this is well-known, as for instance with the treatment of women under Islamic law. Sharia law is commonplace even where it is not offically recognised.

Some aspects of the influence of religion on human rights in some countries is less well-known, such as the Pakistani law making homosexuality punishable by up to life in prison. Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth and has normal trading relations with the United Kingdom.

Finally there is China, by far the most dominant country militarily and economically, and which has a border with Afghanistan. China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslims has caused outcry in the West, as has its complete abrogation of its treaty with the United Kingdom over Hong Kong. Yet China continues to be the largest exporter of goods to most Western countries.

4. The economic power of all these countries

Below we show the latest estimates of the GDP of each country which we listed as key military powers in item 1 above, with their world rankings. It should be noted that in some of these countries the rigour of the data may be less reliable.

2. China: $14,722.7 bn
6. India: $2,623.0 bn
11. Russia: $1,483.5 bn
26. Iran: $491.7 bn
46. Pakistan: $263.7 bn
115. Afghanistan: $19.8 bn

[Source: The World Bank figures for 2020 - or 2019, if 2020 not available]

For many years China has been using its economic power to buy influence across the globe. This even extends to top British universities which have departments and ‘projects’ funded in effect by the Chinese Communist Party.

When it comes to Afghanistan, China did not hang back. Following President Joe Biden’s announcement earlier this year on troop withdrawals, China opened dialogues with the Taliban and is in the process of investing in the country. It is widely thought that Afghanistan’s large natural deposits of precious elements such as lithium – vital in electric batteries – is driving significant Chinese involvement and influence in the new Islamic Republic.

5. British troops fought and died on ground which could be some of the richest on earth

Will the soil of Helmand, soaked in British soldiers' blood, now be mined by China for billions in precious minerals?

Facts4EU.Org is working on some important research regarding Helmand province - the territory in Afghanistan where so many British soldiers were killed or maimed. The report will be very likely to make the national press. Our lack of financial resources means we cannot yet complete and publish this. (See below.)

Observations

What is the relevance of all this to British readers?

Firstly: 457 British servicemen killed and thousands more injured, many horrifically so. They played a major part in keeping our country safe for 20 years. The sacrifice of so many lives, and of the sacrifice of the life chances of so many more, is something this country must never forget. We will remember them.

Aside from the human cost there is the financial aspect. According to official government figures accessed by Facts4EU.Org, the United Kingdom has given £3.3 billion in aid to Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001 which was enthusiastically supported by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

This amount is now increasing. Addressing the Commons on 18 August 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said UK humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan would be increased to another £286 million in 2021.

The wider concerns of this crisis for the United Kingdom

In addition to the direct costs in lives and money, there are wider issues at stake here. Perhaps the most significant, apart from the risks of Western hostage-taking, mass deaths by Taliban death squads, and intra-region conflicts developing, is the role of both China and Russia.

Where the West’s global superpower stutters – as it most definitely has done under the increasingly chaotic presidency of Joe Biden – China and Russia will see opportunities to exploit and they will do so. This is a topic we would like to return to.

The threats and opportunities in the world for Global Britain are significant

Would you like us to outline these?

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Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 23 Aug 2021

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Reader Comments 7

1. Graham , Monday, August 23, 2021, 07:18:

It's well worth reading, good summary. Thank you for the valuable information.

2. Tim B , Monday, August 23, 2021, 11:24:

The UK should not have got involved militarily in Afghanistan even if the US were determined to. Afghanistan has been named ‘the graveyard of empires’ for good reason and we should learn from history, not repeat its mistakes. We found out in the mid 1800’s and the Russians in the 1980’s how unforgiving the country is.
According to Pew research in 2017, 99% of the people in Afghanistan support Sharia law and with the Taliban that’s what they have got. It will be terribly hard for the 1% who want some sort of freedom and the scenes to get out of the country (caused by the chaotic exit strategy) have been tragic. However a peacekeeping or defensive force cannot expect to succeed in a country long term, unless it has the support of the majority of the population.

3. kb , Monday, August 23, 2021, 13:02:

Tim B (2) I did find it startling when a commentator on the BBC said Afghans had had democracy IMPOSED on them....

4. Derek Lund , Monday, August 23, 2021, 14:26:

Although not directly EU related, facts4EU are absolutely right to write about the momentous, tragic, farcical, dishounourable events of the past few days. I've just heard Col Richard Kemp speaking on Fox News call not for Pres Biden's impeachment but, as Commander in Chief, for his commital to a court martial !
America has not been defeated militarily. She has been defeated by her own wokery and it's been building up to this for years.
Still, on the bright side, it's OK for Officialdom to lie to the American public, school children can now elect to change gender and enforce their own personal pronouns without informing their parents, delicate blooms serving in the army may no longer be upset by their NCOs, it's OK to rig elections, there has to be a token [fill in the blank] on every school board, company board, local council and [fill in the blank], aptitude / ability tests needn't be as rigourous for [fill in the blankers] and there's no need to man the Mexican border.
The same disease has taken hold in the UK and her institutions. When one considers the calibre of most of the UK government and its advisers it's hard to say who would or could lead us out of this mess.

5. Robert McDonald , Monday, August 23, 2021, 16:01:

I heard a Taliban fat cat defending their rampage through Afghanistan by saying they were driving out the occupation forces, disregarding the fact that the afghan government was elected by the majority of afghans and the western forces were there to support them in the transition ... until Biden dropped them in it. As noted above the media seem to think that democracy is not the proper way to run a middle eastern country .. obviously the media consider beheadings or stonings are the only way the afghan populace understand, even though the vast majority obviously don't agree.

6. Tim B , Monday, August 23, 2021, 17:56:

Democracy and Islam are uncomfortable bedfellows for many reasons. For democracy to work properly, a free society is needed and there lies the problem.

7. Sharon Wales , Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 18:34:

On the face of it China and Afghanistan should not be very comfortable bed fellows.. Given how the Chinese have abused the Uyghurs, you would think not.
But as neither side has any scruples, sadly they are a perfect match. God help us all!

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