Afghanistanism

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noun

The practice of concentrating on problems in distant parts of the world while ignoring controversial local issues.

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Meanings

nounAfghanistanism (countable and uncountable, plural Afghanistanisms)

plural Afghanistanisms

  1. countableuncountableThe practice of concentrating on problems in distant parts of the world while ignoring controversial local issues.

    I don't wish to belabor this subject of Afghanistanism, this business of taking forthright stands on elections in Costa Rica, while the uncollected local garbage reeks beneath the editor's window.

    1948, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, “Editorial Page Panel”, in Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, American Society of Newspaper Editors, page 73

Origin

From Afghanistan + -ism. The first recorded use is by Jenkin Lloyd Jones, editor of the Tulsa Tribune, in 1948; see quotation below.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Afghanistanism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Afghanistanism

MLA

“Afghanistanism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Afghanistanism. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Afghanistanism,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Afghanistanism.

Source: Afghanistanism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.