THE «MORRISON KNUDSEN» PROJECTIN AFGHANISTAN AND THE ISSUE OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE SHAH MAHMUD KHAN ADMINISTRATION (1946-1953)

Abstract

This article examines the reconstruction of Afghan agriculture, effectuated by the American construction firm Morrison Knudsen in the latter half of the 1940s, based on under researched periodicals and declassified U.S. documents. Aimed at modernizing Afghanistan’s infrastructure, it encompassed irrigation and road construction projects with a total budget of $17.4 million. Despite ambitious objectives - constructing the Bogra channel and establishing a complex of irrigation and transportation infrastructure in the Helmand River basin within four years - the project encountered substantive contradictions. For the first time in domestic historiography, attention is given to the issue of Afghan national sovereignty during the premiership of Shah Mahmud Khan. The objective of this study is to ascertain, also utilizing theoretical methodological principles of the civilizational approach, the causes of the project’s failure. The authors conclude that Shah Mahmud’s foreign policy proved inefficacious. His endeavor to establish closer relations with the U.S. was unsuccessful and undermined the reputation of the Afghan government and the ruling monarchy. Capital outflow and import dependence eroded economic stability, thereby fostering social discontent. Failures in agriculture were attributable to the absence of an effective agrarian policy and the compulsory appropriation of grain, resulting in stagnation and diminished product quality.