September 11, 2001

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Public Choice

Volume

111

Publication Date

2002

First Page

1

Last Page

8

Abstract

Afghanistan has almost always been on the verge of disintegration. Straddling the mountain passes that link the plains of India with Central Asia and beyond, it was a frequently moved pawn in the Great Game played out in the late nineteenth century between the British and Russian empires, each seeking a buffer zone against the other’s expansionist aims. Before that, Afghanistan sat astride the path of vital East-West trade convoys moving over the famous Silk Route. More recently, control of the Afghani mountain passes has been sharply contested by local warlords and Mafia-like criminal organizations trafficking in drugs and contraband. Foreign powers, great and small, have long sought “spheres of influence” in this “strategic frontier” (Pigou, [1921] 1941: 27), sometimes intervening directly, but more often by courting tribal chieftains with money and guns.

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