Abstract
The intelligentsia in developing countries is the hope and future of the Third World. As a social class it tends to be small, expensive to train, and extremely vulnerable to those in power. In times of crisis, whether in the case of political upheaval in their own country or during foreign invasion and occupation, intellectuals usually suffer an inordinate degree of repression and are often sacrificed. This is what happened in Cambodia and Iran in recent years, and it is happening in Afghanistan today. In the following article Anthony Hyman looks at the changing fortunes of Afghan intellectuals over the past four or five years.