Click for larger view of ethnic breakdown of Afghanistan.

Forums: Do you trust the Northern Alliance?

In Bonn, Germany, leaders of the different tribes and factions in Afghanistan are meeting to discuss the future of their war-torn nation. The largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, is likely to emerge as an important force in whatever government emerges in Afghanistan.

According to British journalist Isabel Hilton, the Pashtuns have always considered themselves the natural rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban were mostly composed of Pashtuns, and Pashtuns have always been willing to die for their cause. According to a Pashtun saying: "Me against my brother, my brother and me against my cousins, we and our cousins against the enemy." This hour, we examine the culture of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group. Can what Isabel Hilton calls a "lawless tribe" accept a coalition government in Afghanistan?

Guests:

Forums: What do you think of Brumberg's and Jackson's argument?

Read the guests' editorial, "The Burka and The Bikini."

The Burka and the Bikini Listen

The burka -- the head-to-toe garment required of all women living under the Taliban's rule -- has come to symbolize that regime's brutal treatment of women. But our guests this hour argue that the cultural pressure on American women to uncover themselves is also taking a serious physical and psychological toll.

"The burka and the bikini represent opposite ends of the political spectrum," our guests recently wrote in a Boston Globe editorial. "But each can exert a noose-like grip on the psyche and physical health of girls and women." Americans from the First Lady to radio talk show hosts have castigated the Taliban for their treatment of women. This hour, we turn the spotlight inward to examine how American women are being repressed by a sexually expressive culture obsessed with female beauty.

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