The Role of Peripheral Regions in the Continuity of the Afghanistan Conflict

This article aims to provide a systematic analysis of the continuation of conflict and instability in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has experienced recurrent episodes of violence and political turmoil in the past five decades. Since 1973, the country has witnessed three coups d'état and six regime changes. Afghanistan's geopolitical location at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia plays a decisive role in the continuation of the conflict. Drawing on the regional security complex theory, this article argues that Afghanistan is an insulator state that does not belong to any of the security arrangements of its neighboring regions and is exposed to their security threats and interventions. The main research question is: how do the surrounding regions of Afghanistan influence the continuation of the conflict in this country? The main hypothesis is that Afghanistan's insulation from its peripheral regional security complexes (South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East) has reduced the sense of common destiny between Afghanistan and these regions and has made it a battleground for their rivalries and spillovers. The findings of the article show that the competition between India and Pakistan from South Asia, the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the infiltration of non-state actors such as ISIS from the Middle East, and the presence of Islamic extremist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Ansarullah of Tajikistan and the issue of energy transit from Central Asia are crucial factors in sustaining the conflict in Afghanistan.