ABSTRACT
The widespread availability of arms in Afghan society poses a salient risk to the post-Taliban political order. Beyond the obvious public safety and health risk that arms pose to the general population, they have facilitated the growth of the illicit economy – typified by the drug trade – and an increasingly potent anti-government insurgency. Warlords have used their weapons to carve out spheres of influence, assuring their autonomy and preventing the government from extending its writ across the country. Perhaps most worrying, the presence of so many figures with links to armed groups within the government raises the stakes of legitimate political disputes, increasing the probability that they may degenerate into violence that could undermine the integrity of the state. The gun is surely not the cause of instability in Afghanistan, but it is one of the principal facilitators of it. By extension, reducing the salience of the gun, advancing efforts to demilitarize Afghan society, can serve as an enabler of the reconstruction and peace-building process.
