Can Rory Stewart Fix Afghanistan?
If you’re into the concept of national sovereignty, central governments and all that kind of stuff, then Afghanistan is a seriously beautiful but broken place.
I happen to believe strongly that Afghanistan is, in fact, ungovernable, as a succession of foreign occupiers have learned to their dismay.
But that doesn’t mean that the culture and history of this wild place should not be preserved, and that’s where Rory Stewart enters the big picture.
Stewart is the author of “The Places In Between,” (2004) one of the best travel cum history books to come down the pike in a long time.
Stewart, a fearless (or fearlessly insane) Scotsman, walked the 600 miles of Afghanistan from western to eastern border to border alone in 2002 not long after a U.S.-led invasion had repelled the Taliban. (Okay, Stewart had the company of a dog for much of the trek, but you don’t want to know what happened to it.)
It should go without saying that Stewart fell in love with Afghanistan and has started a foundation to help save Old Kabul.
Click here for a National Geographic Adventure story on his efforts and here for a photo essay.
2 Responses to “Can Rory Stewart Fix Afghanistan?”
[...] Can Rory Stewart Fix Afghanistan?The Moderate Voice – for much of the trek, but you don’t want to know what happened to it.) It should go without saying that Stewart fell in love with Afghanistan and has started a foundation to help save Old Kabul. Click here for a National Geographic Adventure [...]
The question of can he fix Afghanistan will remain a question.
In the meantime I am so heartened by stories of people who, agains odds, just put their heads down and try to achieve something good.
Against the drumbeat of accounts of man’s inhumanity to man, it is the stories of people like this that keep up faith that the human spirit is still alive and busy doing what it can.
I troll the net and the press for stories like this to keep my spirits up. I had read this story before, but I welcomed the invitation to read it again.