Afghanistan's history is a sad one: Soviet invasion in 1979; Pakistan-backed internal conflict in the 1980s; the Taliban regime and then the US invasion after the catastrophe of September 11th. Why does Afghanistan remain so vulnerable to domestic instability, foreign intervention and ideological extremism? Amin Saikal provides us with a sweeping new understanding of this troubled country that grounds Afghanistan's problems in rivalries stemming from a series of dynastic alliances within the successive royal families from the end of the eighteenth century to the pro-Communist coup of 1978. This is the definitive study of Afghanistan.

Amin Saikal, AM, FSSA is Professor Emeritus at the Australian National University (ANU) and Founder and Former Director of the ANU's Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (CAIS). He is a world-leading expert in the politics, history, religion and international relations of the Middle East and Central Asia. He has published extensively. His recent books include How to Lose a War: The Story of America's Intervention in Afghanistan (2024); Iran Rising: The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic (2021); Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics (co- author, 2019); The Spectre of Afghanistan: Security in Central Asia (co-author, 2021), Iran at the Crossroads (Polity Press, 2016), Zones of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq (I.B Tauris, 2014), Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (I.B Tauris, 2004, 2012) and the second edition of his classic The Rise and Fall of the Shah (2009). Professor Saikal has previously held visiting positions at Princeton University, Cambridge University, the University of Sussex, Indiana University and the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a frequent commentator in international news media, including The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The International Herald Tribune.