Emerging Political Scenario in Afghanistan and the Role of International Actors

Middle East the mother of civilisations is one of the very
few regions of global politics which have remained the hot s
pots and orbits around which the global power game revolved
uninterruptedly. In beginning it was due to its geopolitical
location as it is at the crossroads and a trade link between
big Asian, African and European countries turned the region
into a trade hub. Then the life changing discoveries of natural
resources, particularly of oil and gas in the region as
well as the industrial revolution in other parts of the world
increased strategic importance of the region at the global level.
The adoption of policy of securing control over the resources by global
powers gave new shape to the political structure and configuration, like
disintegration of Ottoman Empire and creation of new political entities
in the region. In addition to that the break out of the First and Second
World Wars, creation of Israel as well as the emergence of the Cold
War are such events that transformed the region into a battle ground for
the global super powers which ended at the collapse of the USSR in 1992 and
emergence of the US as the dominant global power. No doubt after the emergence
of uni-polar global order, the region saw a phase of peace and end of the war
gaming on the part of the big powers but the US continued to dominate
the regional political structure. During the same period the region also
experienced one of the toughest periods of inter-state wars, first the decade
long Iraq-Iran war and then the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait which added more
fuel to the already increasing division and hatred among the regional countries.