External Actors in the Afghan Problem continues.....

Afghanistan’s position has long led its neighbours—and other great powers to jockey for influence in the country’s affairs. Unlike the conflict that raged in Yugoslavia in the 1990’s, or the one underway in Iraq, both of which principally derive from deep seated hostility among their constituent religious, ethnic and linguistic communities, Afghanistan’s war has largely been the product of external influences. This calls for greater attention on the subject as many actors in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood have the ability to influence positively and negatively the course of developments in Afghanistan. Analysts have often envisioned
Afghanistan’s future within the context of its region.

Trans-ethnic linkages also are important factors for external involvement in internal conflicts. When a state slips into disintegration and disorganization, people tend to gravitate to their more primordial beliefs and attachments of clan, tribe and ethnic identity. This is what exactly happened to Afghanistan in the course of its prolonged war. Co ethnics living on the other side of the border in Pakistan Iran and the Central Asian Republics and their strong ethnic linkages with the Afghan groups helped perpetuate the already prominent internal divide that existed within the country. This phenomenon had a devastating effect on the internal cohesion of Afghan society. The clan, tribal and ethnic bonds became stronger at the expense of already weak Afghan nationalism.

A very important example of this trait has been the linkage among and between the tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Pashtun belt.

The relationship between tribes of the adjoining states of Pakistan and Afghanistan is a complex one. “The relationship is not of war or peace, black or white, but shades of grey; one that reflects the continuing socio political dynamics of a special, indeed unique situation that has prevailed in the region.”

To be continued.....