The tasks faced today by the government in Kabul offer analogies with the situation prevailing in 1880, when Amir Abdur Rahman created the Afghan State, which was to last nearly a full century. The major difference is that, at that time, the Afghans had to create and develop a State from scratch, whereas today it is more - though not solely - a matter of reconstruction, involving re-establishment of the State, restoration of administration, recovery of the economy, and creation of new elites in all spheres of life. At the same time, it would be no less desirable to overcome the political and socio-economic weaknesses which had prevailed even in a period of relative stability between 1932 and 1978.