Insulator state and continuity of the Afghanistan conflict

Document Type : Original

Authors

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This article seeks to understand why the conflict of Afghanistan has been continued in the past decades. This research is done with qualitative method using document-library sources. The roots of continued conflict and instability in Afghanistan can be categorized in three levels. 1. Internal factors influencing the continuation of the conflict include ethnicity, language, religion, and the lack of political and economic institutions; 2. The regional factor; Afghanistan is not a full member of any of the neighboring regions but it is always affected by the neighboring regions; In other words, one of the most important factors of the continuation of the conflict in Afghanistan is the spillover of conflicts from the surrounding regions in Afghanistan. 3. The level of the international system, including the competition between the great powers and Afghanistan's neighboring to China and Russia, affecting the continuation of the conflict. The research question is, “How the surrounding areas of Afghanistan effect on the continuation of the conflict in this country?” In response, the hypothesis of the research is that Afghanistan, as an insulator state, does not belong to its surrounding regional security complexes (South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East). The location of Afghanistan in this position has weakened the shared destiny between Afghanistan and the above regions, and as a result, it has become a place for conflicts in the surrounding regions to spill.

Keywords

Main Subjects

حوزه موضوعی: افغانستان

Main Object: Afghanistan

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Journal of Countries Studies
Volume 1, Issue 3
2023
Pages 427-453

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History

  • Receive Date: 24 May 2023
  • Revise Date: 18 June 2023
  • Accept Date: 21 June 2023

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