A PRIO Paper from the project 'Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood Perspective' is just published. Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh has authored the third paper in a series of four, titled Central Asia and Afghanistan: Insulation on the Silk Road, Between Eurasia and the Heart of Asia.

For more information and download link to the paper, click here.

About the research project

In realization of the critical role of Afghanistan’s neighbourhood to a sustainable peace in the country, the 'Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood perspective' project describes and analyses the regional security dynamic. A basic premise of the project is that each of Afghanistan’s surrounding regions – South Asia, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf – have an inherent dominant security dynamic of their own. Hence, the engagement of neighbouring states in Afghanistan is primarily a reflection of existential security concerns within their own region.

The project will describe and analyze the security dynamic within each of the three surrounding regions, with a particular view to how it impacts on the Afghanistan policy of the various countries concerned, and with a view to key states in the larger neighbourhood and the role of global powers. We focus on the near political history, with a particular emphasis on post-2001 development. A number of questions fundamental to formulating a policy for constructive third party engagement will be addressed.

Previously published papers

Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou (2011) South Asia and Afghanistan: The Robust India-Pakistan Rivalry, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO.

Harpviken, Kristian Berg (2010) Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood Perspective: General Overview and Conceptualisation, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO.