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Middle East Review of International Affairs
The Sickle and the Minaret: Communist Successor Parties in Yemen and Afghanistan after the Cold War
by John Ishiyama
*
Abstract
This paper examines the evolution of the only two former ruling Marxist-Leninist parties in the Islamic world—the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan/Watan Party (PDPA) in Afghanistan and the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)—following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It considers these parties’ historic development and how they adjusted to the changed circumstances of the post-Cold War world. The YSP has fared much better than its Afghan counterpart. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the most striking is the legacy of the past regime. The YSP was far better at institutionalizing its position in Yemeni society than was the PDPA in Afghan society.
Full Text (PDF, 23 pages, 100.4 KB)
Note *: John Ishiyama is the Director of the Ronald E. McNair Program and Professor of Political Science in the Division of Social Science, Truman State University. He is author or editor of three books, including Ethnopolitics in the New Europe (Lynne Rienner) and Communist Successor Parties in Central and Eastern Europe (M.E. Sharpe). He has also had published 70 journal articles and book chapters on post communist politics and ethnic politics. An earlier version of this paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House-Hilton, April 15-18, 2004. Chicago, Illinois.