STEPHEN BIDDLE: Leaving Afghanistan to the Warlords

Many Americans see Afghanistan as hopeless and ungovernable — a chronically violent “graveyard of empires.” It is not. For most of the twentieth century, Afghanistan was internally stable and at peace with its neighbors — in fact, it was a tourist destination for backpacking Westerners in the 1960s. - STEPHEN BIDDLE: Leaving Afghanistan to the Warlords
The Future of Afghanistan and U.S. Foreign Policy -- Foreign Affairs