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Student presentation maps Afghanistan’s opium economy from Soviet era to Taliban resurgence
Summary
A University of Montana student traced Afghanistan’s opium production history, its role in funding conflict and the effect of regime change and international presence on cultivation and trade; he also described shifting regional interests, including China’s economic engagement and Taliban attempts to regulate the trade.
Aaron Edens, a history student in the Central and Southwest Asian Studies program, presented an overview of Afghanistan’s opium economy, describing how cultivation expanded through the late 20th century, its ties to conflict financing, and how regime change and international intervention affected production.
Aaron said opium cultivation increased after the Soviet withdrawal and during the civil wars of the 1990s, and that the Taliban briefly banned poppy cultivation in 2001. He…
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