Mediaboss Marketing

Author: Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies April 29, 2014 Hoover Institution

Afghanistan long ago became known as the "graveyard of empires." But while it is undoubtedly a tough place to fight and a tough place to control, its reputation is vastly overblown. In fact the last two empires to try to dominate Afghanistanthe British and Sovietlargely succeeded in achieving their objectives even after pulling their troops out as long as they were willing to keep extending aid to Kabul.

The British encounter with Afghanistan is remembered primarily for the disaster of the First Afghan War (1839-1842) which culminated in a pell-mell retreat by Anglo-Indian troops and their camp followers from Kabul. Almost the entire force of 16,000 people, including 700 Europeans, was wiped out as a result of freezing winter temperatures and unrelenting attacks by hostile tribesmen. The British encountered further setbacks during the Second Afghan War (1878-1880), most notably defeat at the Battle of Maiwand in southern Afghanistan, when nearly 1,000 soldiers out of a force of 2,500 were wiped out.

Yet London managed to achieve its essential objective in Afghanistan: to keep control of Kabul's foreign policy and to keep Russian influence out. From 1880 to 1919 Afghanistan was a virtual protectorate of the British Empire, with the British supporting the rule of Abdur Rahman, "the Iron Emir," and his son Habibullah. Habibullah's assassination in 1919 brought to the throne his brother Amanullah, who launched the Third Afghan War to regain control of his country's foreign policy. He succeeded but only because the British were too war-weary to offer much resistance. In any case Russia, at that point in the throes of a civil war between Whites and Reds, appeared to pose little threat of trumping British influence in Afghanistan.

View full text of article.

Micah Zenko covers the U.S. national security debate.

Receive Blog Posts by Email

Issues and innovations in global economic development.

Receive Blog Posts by Email

What will be the effect of India's general election on relations with its neighbors, the EU, and the United States?

Read more:
AfghanistanGraveyard of Empires?