The Collapse of Afghanistan

{
  "authors": [
    "Jennifer B. Murtazashvili"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Dynamic Governance Risks in Asia"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "AP",
  "programs": [
    "Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "United States",
    "South Asia",
    "Afghanistan"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Security",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

In The Media

The Collapse of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been caught in a four-decade-long cycle of state collapse. In that time, five regimes have been overthrown and replaced by subsequent governments that each resembled the last, with the same centralized political institutions that have characterized the Afghan state’s modern existence.

By Jennifer B. Murtazashvili

Published on Jan 15, 2022

Journal of Democracy

About the Author

Jennifer B. Murtazashvili

Nonresident Scholar, Asia Program

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili is a nonresident scholar in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Recent Work

Article
Continental Asia and the Rise of Portfolio Politics
- Jennifer B. Murtazashvili
Article
Nobody’s Backyard: A Confident Central Asia
- Jennifer B. Murtazashvili, Temur Umarov

Political Reform Security Foreign Policy United States South Asia Afghanistan

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Commentary
Carnegie Politika
Are Russia-Japan Relations Really Warming Up?
The truth is that Japan’s government is seeking a degree of reengagement but at a vastly reduced level than under Abe. Most significantly, Japan has shown no willingness to ease sanctions.
James D.J. Brown
Commentary
Carnegie Politika
Brussels and Baku Are Talking Again: What Next?
Azerbaijan’s relations with the EU appear to be going from strength to strength after several years in the deep freeze following the military escalation in Karabakh in 2023 and Azerbaijan’s bitter fallout with France and several other EU member states.
Shujaat Ahmadzada
Commentary
Strategic Europe
Trump Turns NATO into a Tool of Coercion
The full list of humiliations Europe has endured since Donald Trump returned to the White House makes for grim reading. But Washington’s adversarial approach to its allies undermines its own power base.
Rym Momtaz
Paper
The French Far Right’s Foreign Policy: Big Ambitions, Uncertain Direction
The National Rally’s electoral strength, coupled with its internal fragility at a crucial political juncture, contributes to foreign policy vagueness.
Catherine Fieschi
Article
India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia

The Collapse of Afghanistan

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Commentary

Carnegie Politika

Are Russia-Japan Relations Really Warming Up?

The truth is that Japan’s government is seeking a degree of reengagement but at a vastly reduced level than under Abe. Most significantly, Japan has shown no willingness to ease sanctions.

James D.J. Brown

Commentary

Carnegie Politika

Brussels and Baku Are Talking Again: What Next?

Azerbaijan’s relations with the EU appear to be going from strength to strength after several years in the deep freeze following the military escalation in Karabakh in 2023 and Azerbaijan’s bitter fallout with France and several other EU member states.

Shujaat Ahmadzada

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Trump Turns NATO into a Tool of Coercion

The full list of humiliations Europe has endured since Donald Trump returned to the White House makes for grim reading. But Washington’s adversarial approach to its allies undermines its own power base.

Rym Momtaz

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella on stage during a Rassemblement National RN rally For la France du Travail in Macon in Saone et Loire France May 1 2026

Paper

The French Far Right’s Foreign Policy: Big Ambitions, Uncertain Direction

The National Rally’s electoral strength, coupled with its internal fragility at a crucial political juncture, contributes to foreign policy vagueness.

Catherine Fieschi

Article

India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways

A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.

Rajiv Bhatia