AFGHANISTAN – A STUDY IN PROFILE
Prelude
Afghanistan, a landlocked country, occupies a strategic position between China, the Western, Central and South Asian regions. The geographic location attributes Afghanistan a great strategic significance. Afghanistan has remained an arena for the clashing interests of external powers for centuries. Though Afghanistan emerged as a nation state around 1747, its current political borders evolved only towards the end of the 19th century as an outcome of power struggle between the British and the Tsarist Russia. This geo-strategic location made Afghanistan a regional flashpoint in the major power’s game for gaining areas of influence.[i]
Afghanistan was a focal point in the "Great Game" that the Czarist Russia and the British Empire played in the 19th century for containing each other's expansion and for gaining control of the Western, Central and South Asian regions. More recently, Afghanistan got directly involved in the Cold War between the two superpowers, the former Soviet Union and the United States. In the post Cold War era, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan became a victim of the internal power struggle among the warlords. The conflict got further complicated due to external interference by different countries for their own vested interests especially after the incident of 9/ 11.[ii]
Scope
This paper is objectively aimed at providing an insight of Afghanistan to its readers. Country profile covered in this paper will highlight following aspects:-
a. Historical Perspective
b. Geopolitical Afghanistan
c. Afghan Conflicts
PART - I
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Etymology- Name Origin
The first part of the name "Afghan" designates the Pashtun people since ancient times, the founders and the largest ethnic group of the country. This name is mentioned in the form of "Abgan" in the 3rd century CE and as "Avagana" in the 6th century CE. The...