This study investigates Afghanistan influences in the Tajikistan civil war. Ongoing conflict in Afghanistan overlaps the Tajikistan conflict developing after the USSR's 1991 breakup. The Tajikistan civil war includes elements of ethnic, religious and political conflict. This research classifies Islam, leadership, the border, and Russian experience as Afghan sources of the Tajikistan conflict. Independent sources of the Tajikistan conflict include Tajik state weakness, Islam, and Russian strategy towards the ""near abroad."" The study concludes the Tajik conflict should be viewed from a regional perspective. Existing boundaries and regimes of the Central Asian region interact at the political level. Islamic influence, while impacted by the Afghanistan conflict, retains more extensive roots in Tajikistan. Finally, Russian influence in Tajikistan follows from broader Central Asian and ""near abroad"" policies towards all of Central Asia. Some of these regional issues (Uzbek political trends and regional environment and economic trends) promise to develop into serious causes of continuing conflict in Tajikistan and throughout Central Asia.

ADA 299674 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)