Going beyond the stereotypes of Kalashnikov-wielding Afghan mujahideen and black-turbaned fundamentalists, Larry Goodson explains in this concise analysis of the Afghan war what has really been happening in Afghanistan in the last twenty years, and why the future of Afghanistan matters. As it has been through the ages, Afghanistan remains the vital crossroads connecting Central, South, and Southwest Asia. It is the linchpin to trade in the potentially oil-rich new states of Central Asia. The Taliban's role in exporting political Islamism adds fuel to an already incendiary situation in the region. All of Afghanistan's neighbors-Pakistan, Iran, India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, even Turkey and China, along with the United States-jockey to manipulate its internal affairs in their own interests. Illuminating the myriad cleavages along ethnic, religious, social, and geographical fault lines, Goodson examines the devastating course of the Afghan war. He carts its utter destruction of the country, from the deaths of more than two million Afghans and the dispersal of some six million others as refugees to the complete collapse of Afghanistan's economy, which today has been replaced by monoculture in opium poppies and heroin production. The Taliban now uneasily control roughly 80 percent of the country but themselves show increasing discord along ethnic and political lines. Can Afghanistan reemerge from its long war and be rebuilt as a stable nation-state? Just as Afghanistan's neighbors and the United States helped to prolong its war, they now hold the key to its future peace and stability. While Goodson offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the most likely scenarios, only one thing is certain: what happens in Afghanistan will continue to affect stability and security in an increasingly important region of the post-Cold War world.

Includes maps of: Afghanistan and Its Immediate Neighbors in 1997; Afghanistan's Ethnic Groups; Afghanistan's Physical Characteristics; Afghanistan in the Sixteenth Century; Russian and British Advances toward Afghanistan, 1734 to 1920; Central Asia in 1997.

1.Afghanistan in the Post-Cold War World -- 3 -- 2. Historical Factors Shaping Modern Afghanistan -- 23 -- 3. Modern War in Afghanistan: Destruction of a State -- 54 -- 4. Impact of the War on Afghan State and Society -- 91 -- 5. Afghanistan and the Changing Regional Environment -- 133 -- 6. Future of Afghanistan -- 167 -- Appendix Major Actors in Modern Afghan History -- 189.