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Afghanistan's fourteen-year-long civil war erupted in 1978 and ended in the disintegration of a state that was first hyperarmed by the superpowers and then abandoned by them. This book analyzes the part played by international politics in this debacle, discussing how changing patterns of strategic conflict and cooperation have affected international negotiations over Afghanistan from the period of the civil war to the present

Can issue linkage, the combining of multiple issues into a single agreement, enhance the credibility of an agreement? I use the alliance relations of buffer states (states located between two recently or currently warring rivals) to test the claim that issue linkage enhances compliance with treaty obligations. The alliance relations of buffer states create a "hard case" for treaty compliance because, by being prone to invasion and occupation, buffer states have difficulties inducing states to remain committed to an alliance agreement. Hence, if linkage provisions can enhance the credibility of alliance commitments for buffer states, then linkage provisions should improve treaty compliance in nearly any context. I find that buffer states in alliances with trade provisions experience fewer opportunistic violations of the alliance terms, avoid occupation and invasion at a higher rate, and experience fewer third-party attacks than buffer states in other alliance arrangements.

Can issue linkage, the combining of multiple issues into a single agreement, enhance the credibility of an agreement? I use the alliance relations of buffer states (states located between two recently or currently warring rivals) to test the claim that issue linkage enhances compliance with treaty obligations. The alliance relations of buffer states create a "hard case" for treaty compliance because, by being prone to invasion and occupation, buffer states have difficulties inducing states to remain committed to an alliance agreement. Hence, if linkage provisions can enhance the credibility of alliance commitments for buffer states, then linkage provisions should improve treaty compliance in nearly any context. I find that buffer states in alliances with trade provisions experience fewer opportunistic violations of the alliance terms, avoid occupation and invasion at a higher rate, and experience fewer third-party attacks than buffer states in other alliance arrangements. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]

"This book explores buffer states' agency beyond being highly interactive spaces for the competing strategic and security interests of larger powers. Analysing twenty-one political events the author offers a new conceptual framework for the buffer state, which emphasizes strategic utility and agency of the buffer state. Applying this to the case study of Nepal as a buffer state between India and China, he offers a systematic analysis of Sino-Indian interests in the wider region, and Nepal's interactions with and reactions to them, and argues that the buffer state in contemporary International Relations is characterized by intense competitive overtures from its contending neighboring states. However, it is not just a spectator but an active participant that consistently assesses and reassesses its geopolitical position in between much larger competing powers. This reading offers a new understanding of the buffer state as a highly dynamic political space wherein the levels of influence and strategies of bigger powers can be examined. Aimed at a multidisciplinary audience, this book will be of particular interest to scholars, practitioners and students of international relations, security studies, strategic studies, and Asian Studies"--

The Great Game of 19th century between the Imperial British and Czarist Russia encapsulated the geo-political tactics and strategies of expansion which paved the way for their intense rivalry and competition in Central Asia. Great Game was power politics to gain influence, authority and ascendancy in the region. It was a game having rules and boundaries for the worthy players (Ahmad, 2017). The geo-strategic location of Afghanistan and Tribal Belt made them pawns on the geo-political chessboard of the Great Game. Afghanistan's location was vital for carving out a buffer state, moreover it was considered more pragmatic to declare the adjacent Tribal Belt a buffer to the buffer. The Great Game revolved around moving one's pawns on the chessboard with acumen. Afghanistan being the buffer state and the Tribal Belt as buffer to the buffer were used to avoid escalation and to move the pawns on the chessboard whenever expedient.