The Origins and Consequences of Neighboring with Failed States Afghanistan: Failure of Nation-State Building and Peace

Iran’s adjacency with countries which are often dealing with internal conflicts or are affected by international crises has caused mostly undesirable consequences in the country itself. One of the most tangible of these consequences is the surge of refugees entering Iran whenever there is a violent conflict in the neighboring countries, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, which in turn causes further undesirable effects in Iran. Among Iran’s neighbors, Afghanistan has always been one of the important birthplaces of crises in the region due to its involvement in decades of civil war and international conflicts, numerous ethnic and religious gaps, having a failed state, and lack of a genuine nation-state. Although, after the Taliban was removed from power by the international coalition in 2001, it was thought that Afghanistan would set off towards a future of peace and stability. However, after more than a decade of war, the prospect is dim, and the outlook is not promising. Since the fate and prosperity of neighboring countries have always been tied to each other, Iran has regarded the present and future of its neighbors important. Regarding the difficult and complicated situation in Afghanistan during the past decades and considering its prevalent, continual turmoil and instability, we can conclude that despite superficial changes in its government system and political arena, no significant change has occurred in its unstable and crumbling condition. This is an indication that until an uncertain point in the future, Iran will be affected by Afghanistan because of being neighbors with it.