THE AFGHANISTAN WAR IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Afghanistan has suffered war for thirty years: one decade fighting the Soviet Union and a regime kept in power by it, one of domestic war about what regime to have, andone against USA and a regime kept in power by it. That battle front currently has thelargest amount of military forces stationed in any war zone in the world and the speech by president Obama (2009a) at West Point on 1 December 2009 told of more on theirway, primarily more than 30,000 from USA, but also from such "willing" countries thatcan be pressured into increasing their participation. What is going on? This article takes its point of departure in the classical exhortation that one should always ask, "What is this instance of?"Key words: Afghanistan, war, causes of war, asymmetric wars, and interventions
