The third and final case study from the Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood Perspective project is just published. Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh analyzes the Persian Gulf sub-regional security complex and its relations with Afghanistan in the PRIO paper titled "The Persian Gulf and Afghanistan: Iran and Saudi Arabia's Rivalry Projected".
Click here for more information and download link to the paper.
About the research project
In realization of the critical role of Afghanistan’s neighbourhood to a sustainable peace in the country, the 'Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood perspective' project describes and analyses the regional security dynamic. A basic premise of the project is that each of Afghanistan’s surrounding regions – South Asia, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf – have an inherent dominant security dynamic of their own. Hence, the engagement of neighbouring states in Afghanistan is primarily a reflection of existential security concerns within their own region.
The project will describe and analyze the security dynamic within each of the three surrounding regions, with a particular view to how it impacts on the Afghanistan policy of the various countries concerned, and with a view to key states in the larger neighbourhood and the role of global powers. We focus on the near political history, with a particular emphasis on post-2001 development. A number of questions fundamental to formulating a policy for constructive third party engagement will be addressed.
Previously published papers
Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou (2012) Central Asia and Afghanistan: Insulation on the Silk Road, Between Eurasia and the Heart of Asia, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO.
Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou (2011) South Asia and Afghanistan: The Robust India-Pakistan Rivalry, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO.
Harpviken, Kristian Berg (2010) Afghanistan in a Neighbourhood Perspective: General Overview and Conceptualisation, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO.
