This article addresses the question of why regional cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighbours has been so difficult despite these countries’ common concerns. To answer this question, Afghanistan is conceptualised as placed at the core of overlapping regions: South Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia and, through China’s influence, East Asia. Over the past decade, interactions among different regions ‘through’ Afghanistan have increased, and overlap has intensified.
Out of Afghanistan: US Needs to Rethink its Afghan Policy
The US and other countries, including India, should open the floodgates of military and economic assistance to the Afghan state and help build the capacity and capability of its security forces and administrative machinery.