Jonathan Goodhand, Bandits, Borderlands and Opium Wars: Afghan State-building Viewed from the Margins, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), 7 December 2009
EXCERPT: "The drugs economy has been an important part of the story of borderland transformation in Afghanistan. Because of drugs, borderlands are no longer marginal, but have become a resource to be exploited by the centre of the fragile state. This Working Paper explores the linkages between the drugs economy, borderlands and 'post conflict' state-building in Sheghnan, a remote district on the Afghan-Tajik border in the north-east Afghanistan. It does this through a fine grained historical analysis of Sheghnan. As such the paper argues that examining the frontier may throw light on processes of state formation, state collapse and 'post conflict' state-building. A focus on borderlands means taking seriously the 'politics of place' and examining the diffuse dynamics and localised projects that feed into and shape processes of state formation."
Read the full report [pdf].
Related articles:
Targeting Afghanistan's opium market, NPR, 7 December 2009
Police seize 500kg of drugs in Southeastern Iran, Fars News Agency, 7 December 2009
Helmand charity goes against the grain, Asia Times Online, 4 December 2009
Addiction main channel of AIDS transmission in Afghanistan: Health Minister, China View, 1 December 2009
Afghanistan's hidden drug problem, Reuters AlertNet, 23 November 2009
Related posts:
The Afghan narcotics industry: A summary, 13 November 2009
Narco‐belligerents across the globe: Lessons from Colombia for Afghanistan?, 30 October 2009
The transnational threat of Afghan opium, 22 October 2009
War on drugs and war on terror, 25 May 2009
Poppies pose dilemma, 31 March 2009
