Adoption Video
Top 10 Major Events that occurred in 2013
For more information visit these sites I referenced:
http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/13284-13-events-that-shaped-afghanistan-in-2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12024253
- Afghanistan the leading producer and cultivator of Opium.
- Afghan forces took control of nationwide security from NATO.
- Ghanzi officially named the Capitol of Islamic Civilization.
- Tops world corruption list.
- Loya Jurga supports Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Kabul-Washington.
- Two Former Kabul bank chiefs jailed for multi-million dollar fraud that almost led to the bank's collapse and that of the entire Afghan banking system in 2013.
- Afghan cricket team qualified for 2015 World Cup, the first time in history. Their national football team also won the SAFF cup.
- Afghan, Pakistani, and UK leaders met in London. They talked about a peace process.
- Bagran, the only US-run prison, shifted to Afghan control.
- Supreme court attack in Kabul. A car full of explosives detonated; 17 civilians killed; 40, including children, injured.
For more information visit these sites I referenced:
http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/13284-13-events-that-shaped-afghanistan-in-2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12024253
Human Development Index (HDI)
The HDI was published by the United Nations Development programme, and is based on three principles of human development:
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What Level of Globalization is Afghanistan?
I believe that Afghanistan is a 1.0 globalization level (see cmap on the Flat World), that is beginning to transition to a 2.0. Afghanistan is very actively engaged internationally. It has diplomatic relations with other countries around the world, including Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Twelve years ago, at the end of 2002, they signed a "Good Neighbor" declaration with several of these and neighboring countries.
This is the beginning of the major changes that Afghanistan has made, as they proactively work to improve international relations.
Afghanistan intends to be two specific bridges: a land-bridge between neighboring countries, and a bridge between the world of Islam and pluralistic democracies. The government is reaching out in order to change the relations with their neighbors. There are two messages that they want to convey to the world: "Firstly, Afghanistan wants to be an equal partner; and secondly, that Afghanistan wants to be the catalyst for regional cooperation" (http://mfa.gov.af/en/page/3883).
In fact, Afghanistan has taken on the theme: Cooperation Among Civilizations, promoted by H.E. President Karzai. They are committed to contribute in helping the world overcome global problems, being believers in pluralism. They also plan to assist in fighting terrorism.
Though Afghanistan is making progress, it is still no where near being a 2.0 globalization level. Progress has also been made in the area of globalization through companies and trade, but this transition will be difficult since the business framework has many weaknesses, specifically when it comes to tracking money. Some things also hindering Afghanistan from becoming a 2.0 country is its dependence on foreign aid, and the difficulty in mining materials.
Afghanistan does have great potential to become at least a 2.0 country because of the high opium poppy production levels due to good weather, along with an increase in exporting mined materials, development in agriculture, increased security, a quickly booming market worldwide for woven war rugs, and better relations with Iran.
For more information visit:
http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm
http://hdr.undp.org/en/data-explorer
http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/afghanistan/risk
http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/pdfs/53-1/spooner.pdf
This is the beginning of the major changes that Afghanistan has made, as they proactively work to improve international relations.
Afghanistan intends to be two specific bridges: a land-bridge between neighboring countries, and a bridge between the world of Islam and pluralistic democracies. The government is reaching out in order to change the relations with their neighbors. There are two messages that they want to convey to the world: "Firstly, Afghanistan wants to be an equal partner; and secondly, that Afghanistan wants to be the catalyst for regional cooperation" (http://mfa.gov.af/en/page/3883).
In fact, Afghanistan has taken on the theme: Cooperation Among Civilizations, promoted by H.E. President Karzai. They are committed to contribute in helping the world overcome global problems, being believers in pluralism. They also plan to assist in fighting terrorism.
Though Afghanistan is making progress, it is still no where near being a 2.0 globalization level. Progress has also been made in the area of globalization through companies and trade, but this transition will be difficult since the business framework has many weaknesses, specifically when it comes to tracking money. Some things also hindering Afghanistan from becoming a 2.0 country is its dependence on foreign aid, and the difficulty in mining materials.
Afghanistan does have great potential to become at least a 2.0 country because of the high opium poppy production levels due to good weather, along with an increase in exporting mined materials, development in agriculture, increased security, a quickly booming market worldwide for woven war rugs, and better relations with Iran.
For more information visit:
http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm
http://hdr.undp.org/en/data-explorer
http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/afghanistan/risk
http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/pdfs/53-1/spooner.pdf
People and Poverty
Afghanistan is a very poor country, as can be seen in the above pictures. I wanted to be able to depict that these are real people, who are suffering. I hope these pictures portray the suffering, resourcefulness, desperation, courage, and souls of the Afghan people.
Several images courtesy of:
http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/08/life-in-afghanistan-in-august.html
http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/08/life-in-afghanistan-in-august.html