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Pashtunistan and the Durrani Empire (Original Source).
Source publication
Pakistan’s historical insecurity towards India and the Islamisation of its military raises a curious question of strategy and identity rooted in Pakistan’s political genesis. This article examines the social and geostrategic factors underpinning Pakistan’s Afghanistan approach between its inheritance of security principles from colonial administrat...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... 'Durrani Empire' in the Pashtun heartland of Kandahar, Afghanistan, was fractured following Ahmed Shah's death and it was wedged between the imperial empires of Great Britain, Czarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty of China and Persia. Figure 1 maps the overlap between Durrani's 18 th Century Empire and Cold War 'Pashtunistan' demographic concentrations. This figure illustrates not only the centrality of Pashtunistan in the scheme of some of the political leaders of modern Afghanistan, but also the strategic separation of ethnic Pashtuns along the Durand Line. ...
Context 2
... 'Durrani Empire' in the Pashtun heartland of Kandahar, Afghanistan, was fractured following Ahmed Shah's death and it was wedged between the imperial empires of Great Britain, Czarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty of China and Persia. Figure 1 maps the overlap between Durrani's 18 th Century Empire and Cold War 'Pashtunistan' demographic concentrations. This figure illustrates not only the centrality of Pashtunistan in the scheme of some of the political leaders of modern Afghanistan, but also the strategic separation of ethnic Pashtuns along the Durand Line. ...
Citations
... " [46] Pakistan's key interest in Afghanistan is having what some of its military leaders call "strategic depth. " [47] This interest suggests that Pakistan continues to have sway in Afghan affairs and keeps the Afghan state weak or at its disposal. [48] While Pakistan supports the Taliban, it is arguable that it may also be worried that total control by the Taliban over Afghanistan will reduce its influence and put pressure to resolve the disputed Durand Line to the latter's advantage. ...
Since the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban regime more than one year ago, the new regime has been struggling to get legitimacy from the members of the United Nations. The past year has also exposed the complex network of various militant groups in Afghanistan that supported the Taliban against the U.S. but have now started pursuing their own interests. India and Pakistan face several militancy challenges that emanate from Afghan soil. In turn, India and Pakistan counterbalance each other by supporting different groups in Afghanistan. This article addresses the Taliban's rise to power, the complexity of engagement with the new rulers, and the security implications for India and Pakistan in relation to Afghanistan. It suggests that zero-sum behavior and strategic theory can be windows through which Pakistan's and India's engagement may best be viewed.
... Strategic depth is a geographic gap between a state's frontline and its heartland that improves defense capacity and poses problems to the opponent (Khan, 2015). The phrase was used as a protective concept in the twentieth century (Parkes, 2019). Historically, the rulers of India like Mauryans, Kushans, Guptas and Mughals had been safeguarding Afghanistan to protect India (Ahmad, 2020). ...
... Afghanistan and India had cordial relations at state level after the independence which raised fears in Pakistan and was taken as encirclement of Pakistan from the East and the West sides (Owais, 2020). Due to this historical rivalry and narrow breadth between her eastern and western border Pakistan had developed strategic depth policy in Afghanistan during post -cold war era considering large area of Afghanistan at her disposal if there would be any future armed conflict with India but that could only be possible if there would be a friendly government in Kabul (Parkes, 2019). Parkes viewed strategic depth as was used by the British imperial contest against Czarist Russia for having influence in Central Asia and the same was inherited by the Pakistan military as a pre-existed colonial policy. ...
... Parkes viewed strategic depth as was used by the British imperial contest against Czarist Russia for having influence in Central Asia and the same was inherited by the Pakistan military as a pre-existed colonial policy. He further argues that Pakistan blended this pre-colonial existing strategic policy with her common cultural and Islamisation policies related to Afghanistan (Parkes, 2019). The era of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan provided General Zia-ul-Haq an opportunity to gain strategic depth in Afghanistan as Pakistan was the only state in the neighborhood of Afghanistan which allied with the US campaign against USSR Kamal, M. (2020). ...
The purpose of this study is to examine how Pakistan's choice of strategic depth affected the security environment between Afghanistan and Pakistan. After analysing the changing geopolitical landscape in Afghanistan in the wake of the US-Taliban agreement on February 29, 2020, this study also outlines numerous Pakistani strategic challenges and rational choices. Data was be collected and processed using primary documents, such as draughts of agreements between the United States of America and the Taliban, draughts of joint declarations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America for bringing peace to Afghanistan, and official statements from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the United States, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, and India. Research papers, think tank studies, newspaper sources, official statements from key players, and other secondary sources will be used to collect data. The prior research did not examine how Pakistan's rational decision to pursue strategic depth affected the Afghan-Pakistan issue, how this understanding is interpreted by defence policy stakeholders, or what other rational options Pakistan might have. This study has overcome this gap. Keywords: Strategic, Ambivalence, Taliban-US Agreement, Pakistan
... Pakistan had developed most important doctrine of 'Strategic Depth' in Afghanistan especially in the post-Cold War era. This doctrine provides Pakistan access to large land area in case of war with India and that access could only be possible if friendly government is installed in Afghanistan (Parkes, 2019). There is always a fear exists in the minds of policy makers of Pakistan and also had been observed since the establishment of an independent India and Pakistan in August 1947 that the alliance between Afghanistan and India had always encircled Pakistan strategically. ...
The geo-strategic location of Afghanistan is one of the important factors in its destabilization in
post-9/11 era as it was in the late 1970s. The society of Afghanistan is composed of distinct ethnic
groups supported by neighbouring states exacerbating instability to promote their interests. The
regional powers always tried to influence this state to achieve their strategic objectives. India and
Pakistan are involved in different activities to promote their divergent goals in this country for
many decades. They supported contrasting regimes in Afghanistan to strengthen their influence
and counter their historical rivalry like in other conflicts and institutions. So, far the strategies of
both the countries are successful but their goals are counterproductive in bringing normalcy to
Afghanistan. This research paper aimed to highlight the strategic battle between India and
Pakistan in Afghanistan. The theory applied in this research is balance and power with formation
of alliances. Afghanistan formed alliance with India in post-9/11 era to outwit the influence of
Pakistan. The results concluded from this study primarily entails that the directions of policies of
these two rivals could be more productive if reconciliation is embraced instead of conflict.
... Parkes, A. (2019). Considered Chaos: Revisiting Pakistan's 'Strategic Depth' inAfghanistan. ...
У статті здійснено аналіз динаміки конфліктогенності афгансько-пакистанських відносин за президентства А. Гані, яка залежить від наступних чинників: 1) традиційні загрози-прикордонне питання та проблема Пушту-ністану; 2) «нетрадиційні» загрози-питання біженців, наркотрафіку та фі-нансування тероризму; 3) постафганське врегулювання як у форматі Афгані-стан-«Талібан»-Пакистан, так і під впливом зовнішніх сил-США, Китаю та Індії. Автори дійшли висновку щодо залежності пакистансько-афганської вза-ємодії від рівня довіри між державами, ефективності подолання загроз безпеці та впливу інших держав. Ключові слова: Афганістан, Пакистан, США, «Талібан», Ашраф Гані, постафганське врегулювання.
... Pakistan's principal intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, continues to support Islamist groups in Afghanistan such as the Haqqani Network (HN) which has operated in various ways in Afghanistan since the Cold War. Existing explanations of why Pakistan supports these groups point to geostrategic competition with India, the pursuit of 'strategic depth' and geographic influence (Parkes, 2019). Beyond these, cultural and social forces such as pan-Islamism are arguably central aspects of the dynamics underpinning Pakistan's Afghanistan policy. ...
... The current lexicon that deals with Pakistan's strategic culture suggests that its basic assumptions concerning its strategic environment are founded on 'strategic depth' through Islamism and Indian hostility (Fair, 2014(Fair, , 2016Rizvi, 2002;Parkes, 2019). This leaves little conceptual space for how China, despite its historical, strategic and geographic congruence with Pakistan, figures in its assumptions regarding its strategic environment. ...
A paradoxical element of Pakistan's grand strategy exists in its approach to Afghanistan. Pakistan's instrumentalisation of Islamist groups such as the Taliban has historically been the principal strategic method employed by the military to minimise Indian influence in Afghanistan. However, this strategy risks jeopardis-ing Pakistan's strategic partnership with China, which is another method used by Pakistan to counterbalance India. Beijing's growing strategic interests in the region require stability in South Asia, whereas Pakistan's strategic method in Afghanistan indicates a preference for instability. The destabilising effect of Pakistan's support for Islamist groups, and China's desire for political and economic stability in South Asia, indicate latent divergent interests in the Sino-Pakistan strategic partnership. Therefore, this study factors China as a looming constraint on Pakistan's Afghanistan policy. This study also examines the psychological and strategic factors underpinning Pakistan's support for Islamist groups in Afghanistan, and the strategic constraints on this policy. Advancing the notion of a 'strategic culture' in Pakistan's military, this study canvasses the concept as an epiphenomenal explanatory factor of its Afghanistan policy, and more instructively, as a factor of strategic inflexibility.
The relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been caught in a complex security predicament rooted in Afghanistan's refusal to recognize the Durand Line as the official international boundary between the two countries, and its territorial claims extending into Pakistani territory across the Durand Line. This security dilemma has evolved, taking on various facets due to several factors, including developments in their bilateral relations and regional dynamics. Political and security-related developments are intrinsically intertwined with the two nations' interference in each other's internal matters. Afghanistan's pursuit of the 'Pashtunistan' cause, its establishment of ties with India, and support for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have exacerbated this security conundrum. Pakistan, in response, undertook measures to counter Muhammad Daoud Khan's attempts to meddle in its internal affairs, participated in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union and the subsequent civil war, and later aligned itself with the United States during the American invasion of Afghanistan, all of which have engendered discontent among the Afghan populace. This paper aims to elucidate the intricate interplay of these developments and factors in perpetuating the enduring security dilemma in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations.
Beginning with Pakistan's partition from India in 1947 and continuing through the military dictator President Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization campaign, this chapter investigates the historical roots of Islamism in Pakistan until its current iteration. It examines the development of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) from an Islamist party that supported the military to one that represents Pakistan's second generation of Islamists that prioritizes welfare over legal reductionism. The chapter also observes the structure of JI which is both its blessing and its curse. JI was influential during the time of Zia’s Islamist policies and legislative activities. It hasn't come to power directly at the national level as it has not won any elections, but it became part of the coalition governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K.P.K), one of the four provinces of Pakistan.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Beitrag vertritt die These, dass die von Allianzen während des Kalten Krieges veranlasste technische Standardisierung von Artilleriemunitionskalibern und die daraus resultierenden technologischen und industriellen Pfadabhängigkeiten auch auf dem heutigen globalen Rüstungsmarkt nachwirken und die strategische Tiefe der an großen Konflikten beteiligten Akteure mitbestimmen. Zentral ist dabei die Analyse globaler Standards, Arsenale und Rüstungsmarktbedingungen für Artilleriesysteme und Munition. Aufbauend auf bestehenden Konzeptualisierungen von strategischer Tiefe, Standardisierung und globalem Waffenhandel wird das Modell „Vertikale Standardisierung, horizontale Versorgung, erhöhte strategische Tiefe“ entwickelt, um die theoretischen Erwartungen für Artilleriesysteme und Munitionsstandardisierung zu beschreiben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass in den weltweiten Artilleriearsenalen die Standardkaliber der NATO und des Warschauer Paktes dominieren. Schließlich macht der aktuelle Krieg in der Ukraine deutlich, dass die Ukraine durch den Zugang zum Weltmarkt in der Lage ist, ihre Streitkräfte weiterhin mit indirektem Artilleriefeuer zu unterstützen, und zwar weitgehend durch den Import von standardisierter Artilleriemunition – sowohl für NATO- als auch für Warschauer-Pakt-Kaliber. Diese internationale Lieferantenbasis ist somit ein integraler Bestandteil der strategischen Tiefe der Ukraine.
The purpose of this article is to ascertain North Korea’s ‘real’ nuclear strategy. This article uses the ‘Strategy = Ends + Ways + Means’ construct for the ascertainment, and it makes comparisons to Pakistan’s nuclear strategy. This article found that North Korea’s goal of its nuclear armament was as ideological and aggressive as Pakistan’s, and that its nuclear strategy is closer to the ‘minimal deterrence strategy’ than Pakistan’s. North Korea seems more desperate than Pakistan because of its dire economic situation and the uncertain future of the Kim family dynasty. It could, therefore, try to achieve its goal, the reunification of South Korea, as soon as it has sufficient capabilities for the strategy. The United States and South Korea should be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is North Korea’s reunification war against South Korea under the threat of nuclear attack on the US mainland and South Korea.
