Economy and Society of Afghanistan - a Special Case of the 'Dutch Disease'
Economy and Society of Afghanistan - a Special Case of the 'Dutch Disease'

Summary/Abstract: In the article the social and economic transformation of Afghanistan is examined in a historical perspective. The author notices that Afghanistan's trajectory of development, since the modernization of the country began in the 19th century, has eventually produced the state of so-called 'Dutch disease', that is, a relationship between the increase in exploitation of natural resources and a demise of the manufacturing sector. In the Afghani case, the natural resources' responsible for halting industrialization are narcotics (opium), on the global exports of which the entire local economy became strictly dependent. The author names number of reasons behind such a direction of development, including political, economic, an cultural factors but remains skeptical about possible ways out of that developmental trap.

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