replacement Nadir Shah, King from 1929–33, and Nadir’s son
Zahir, who succeeded his father upon Nadir’s assassination in
November 1933, learned well: power in Afghanistan was substan-
tially diffused, and this diffusion of power constrained what the
state could attempt.
State and society
The pattern of relations between state and society contributed
greatly to the slide towards disorder – at first almost imperceptible,
but over time increasingly troubling – which marked the later years
of Muhammadzai power. Fundamentally, this arose for two rea-
sons. The first was that the state was not accountable for its pol-
icies in any meaningful sense to a responsive community, and
enjoyed relatively low reservoirs of legitimacy. The second, which
is considered in more detail in the next section, was that in the 15
years before the communist coup, the national political elite was
rent by increasingly severe divisions, in a period in which expect-
ations of state performance were rising.
When we speak of state–society relations, we are fundamentally
concerned to map patterns of domination and subordination, and to
identify the bases upon which domination is established and main-
tained. To do so, we need to identify the key capabilities of the
state. Migdal has identified these as including ‘the capacities to
penetratesociety, regulatesocial relationships, extractresources,
and appropriate or use resources in determined ways’ (Migdal,
1988: 4). We must also note the diverse character of state institu-
tions. Migdal has usefully distinguished four different types. First
are the trenches, consisting of ‘the officials who must execute state
directives directly in the face of possibly strong societal resist-
ance’. Second are the dispersed field offices, that is, the ‘regional
and local bodies that rework and organize state policies and direct-
ives for local consumption, or even formulate and implement
wholly local policies’. Third are the agency’s central offices, the
‘nerve centers where national policies are formulated and enacted
and where resources for implementation are marshaled. Fourth are
The Road to War 13