This thesis aims to fill the existing gap in the writing of the history of development, i.e. the lack of research on the recipients and their political motives and agency. By using the case of...Show moreThis thesis aims to fill the existing gap in the writing of the history of development, i.e. the lack of research on the recipients and their political motives and agency. By using the case of Afghanistan during the Cold War, the main research question of the thesis thus is: To what extent did the Afghan elite influence the course of the Cold War development projects from 1953-1979? The main finding is that despite adopting and sharing the assumptions of the modernization theory with Americans, the Afghan state elites used developmental aid for the purpose of the Pashtunisation of Afghanistan. Through examining the case of the building of dams in the Helmand and Arghandab Valleys, the student shows that the goal of the Afghan state elites was to attract the Pashtun nomads ‘to settle in Afghanistan, as a Pashtun demographic majority was needed to bolster the legitimacy of the Pashtun government and shape Afghanistan's identity as such’.Show less