... bogged down in its neighborhood than before: it has been unable to retrieve the territory it lost to China last year, and the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban threatens an increase in terrorism in Kashmir. The country is at a crossroads, and much will depend on how the relatively unfettered senior...

...Timur Dadabaev Three aspects symbolize the state of affairs in and around Afghanistan in 2018: the fragmentation of domestic political actors, the increasing desecuritization of rhetoric with respect to Afghanistan by neighboring countries, and the diversification of Afghanistan’s global partners...

...Jasmine Bhatia; Naseem Jareer; Ross McIntosh This article assesses the legacy of the National Solidarity Programme in seven districts of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. We find that the NSP largely achieved its development objectives, but had limited effects on state–society relations. The findings...

...Matthew Willner-Reid This paper explores the dynamics of competition inherent in the “aid marketplace” in Afghanistan and proposes a holistic theoretical framework for understanding the actions of aid actors based on a taxonomy of mercenary (rational), missionary (altruistic), and misfit...

...Ashley Jackson; Giulia Minoia In Afghanistan, relationship-based networks permeate formal governance institutions, the economy, and everyday life, regulating how resources are distributed. This paper argues that since 2001, modes of external intervention in Afghanistan have failed to understand...

...Nematullah Bizhan This article examines post-2001 state-building in Afghanistan. In so doing, it explores how interactions among aid, politics, and state capacity shaped the characteristics of the state by looking at the existing conditions, sources of state income, the development planning process...

..., and the challenges this project continues to face. © 2018 by The Regents of the University of California 2018 Chabahar India Iran Afghanistan connectivity HARSH V. PANT AND KETAN MEHTA India in Chabahar A Regional Imperative ABSTRACT Since the 1990s India has been committed to the completion...

...Zhu Yongbiao Since 9/11, the relationship between China and Afghanistan has experienced four stages, which reflect China’s changing roles in this area. China is likely to play a greater role as it seeks to press ahead, despite obstacles, with its new Silk Road projects. In the future, China...

... for their country. US and NATO forces remained at a stalemate with the Taliban, while Afghanistan’s predatory neighbors were as self-interested as ever. Hard-won gains remain reversible. © 2018 by The Regents of the University of California 2018 Afghanistan Taliban National Unity Government Kabul Ghani...

...Kriti M. Shah As the United States’ war in Afghanistan enters its 16th year, the Taliban insurgency shows no signs of waning; therefore it is worth deliberating aspects of the movement that have been ignored or forgotten by the West. Pashtuns, many of whom are loyal Taliban members, are an integral...

...Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili Hopes for national unity and stability in Afghanistan were dashed in 2015 as the government lost control of significant territory to insurgents. Kunduz City fell briefly to the Taliban, the first major city to fall to them since 2001. The ANSF experienced heavy...

...Nazif M. Shahrani U.N.-sanctioned interventions were imposed in Afghanistan to punish Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists, establish effective government to prevent a Taliban resurgence, and enable U.S.-NATO troops to withdraw (except for a residual force to train Afghan security forces and conduct...

...Larry P. Goodson The attacks of 9/11 spurred the U.S. to pursue national security interests in Afghanistan through expensive, overlapping strategies. The Afghan War helped elicit changes in the region that produced new American interests there. Because of a modern “Great Game” between regional...

...Andrew Scobell Since 2001, China has warily watched the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and associated footprint in Central Asia. In 2014, Beijing grew alarmed that a U.S. exit would prompt a resurgence of violence and Islamic radicalism in Afghanistan that could spill over into neighboring...

... qualities associated with “warlords” rather than professionalism. Decentralization could harness these characteristics to improve governance. NEIL ENGLEHART AND PATRICK GRANT Governors, Governance, and Insurgency in Karzai s Afghanistan The Limits of Professionalism ABSTRACT Critics claim that lack...

...Kathryn Stoner The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has long-term geostrategic interests in Afghanistan: stability, economic development, and curbing narcotics flowing into Central Asia and thence to Russia. Moscow is in the difficult position of not wanting American forces to stay...

...Shashank Joshi This article assesses Britain's contemporary relationship with Afghanistan, its goals and interests there, and its possible post-2014 role. It is argued that Britain might continue to play a limited but non-negligible military, intelligence, fiscal, and diplomatic role, even...

..., and the country teetered on the brink of a coup following the June presidential runoff. © 2015 by the Regents of the University of California 2015 Afghanistan NATO troops transition Ashraf Ghani Abdullah JENNIFER BRICK MURTAZASHVILI Afghanistan in 2014 Year of Transition ABSTRACT Labeled the Year...

...Vanda Felbab-Brown Uncertainties about the 2014 security, political, and economic transitions pervaded Afghanistan in 2013. The failure in 2013 to sign a U.S.-Afghan security agreement permitting the presence of U.S. troops after 2014 deepens those anxieties. As ISAF forces continued to withdraw...

... important, its achievements and raison d’être, as well as the enduring rivalries among its members. © 2013 by the Regents of the University of California 2013 Shanghai Cooperation Organization China Russia regional security Afghanistan JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN The Shanghai Cooperation...