ABSTRACT
As the United States draws down its troops from Afghanistan, and policymakers consider the shape and extent of future US commitments to the country, two overarching issues most concern strategic planners. One is the possibility that violent non-state actors (VNSAs) could experience an explosive growth that threatens outside states. The other significant issue is the role that neighboring countries will play in Afghanistan's future. Peter Tomsen, a scholar of the region and former special envoy to the Afghan Mujahiden, describes Daoud, a career military man who was single-mindedly devoted to the Pashtunistan cause, as characterized by 'an autocratic style' and 'supreme self-confidence'. The Afghan-Soviet war occurred at a time when the Pakistani military was undergoing significant changes among the rank and file. Pashtunistan no longer plays the central role in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations that it once did: Pashtuns from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have no desire to join Afghanistan at this point.
