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| Author: | Brigadier Feroz Hassan Khan |
|---|
January 2003
This article from Strategic Insights, an electronic journal of the Center for Contemporary Conflict, provides historical context for Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, noting that after "the end of the Cold War this relationship became a prime facilitator of the international terrorist network, which found its locus in the region." It addresses the effects of the Pashtun movement back to the 19th century, the Taliban, the "Pashtunwali" code, elections in Pakistan, and related topics.
Excerpt: Focus on South Asia over the past fifty years has primarily remained on the India-Pakistan rivalry and tensions over Kashmir. This dimension overshadowed the effect of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations on the security dynamics of the South-Central Asian region. The historical and cultural dimension of the Afghanistan-Pakistan relation has been and will remain critical in the evolving regional dynamics. After the end of the Cold War this relationship became a prime facilitator of the international terrorist network, which found its locus in the region. For the most part of Pakistan's independent history, relations with Afghanistan have been problematic and have been characterized by recurrent mutual suspicion, which sometimes manifested in policies of interference and even attempts at destabilization.
Located at the confluence of great mountains and with a turbulent history, the Pakistan-Afghanistan region was once referred to as the "cockpit of Asia" by Lord Curzon. Geography has placed the region at the crossroads of global and regional politics, strategic and particularly economic interests-as a potential conduit for energy routes (the oil/gas pipelines of Central Asia). But the war-torn region faces diverse problems of conflicting group-identities, narcotics trade, a small arms highway, money laundering, mineral smuggling and cultural clashes.
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