"Watching the spectacle from my hotel room balcony, the prospect of peace in a country as beautiful and historic as Afghanistan began to sink in. There were excursions to plan, to the Bamiyan Buddhas and the blue lakes of Band-e Amir, and picnics at which Tariq and I would consume nothing but fresh fruit and swim in the invigorating rivers. There were alpine meadows to cross in Badakshan, all the way through the Wakhan Corridor to China, and carpet shopping in Mazar-e Sharif, where the chaikhanas looked like rug shops."
- Christopher Kremmer, The Carpet Wars

Afghanistan has always been a country of great importance in Asia. Sitting at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent it has ruled over swathes of the region and in turn been fought over for centuries. The most recent cycle of violence began in mid-1978 with an uprising against the Soviet-backed regime that led to the invasion of the Red Army. Afghan determination backed largely with US and Saudi funding resulted in the humiliating withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989, but when the victorious mujahideen groups were excluded from the Geneva Accords aimed at restoring peace, Afghanistan slipped into a murderous civil war. Such anarchy gave birth to the Taliban movement who rapidly conquered most of the country and brought security to Afghanistan for the first time in many years, albeit at the price of personal liberty. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Taliban were overthrown in 2001 by a US-led coalition and an interim government was installed, with Hamid Karzai as its president.

Afghanistan is a country of great beauty and hospitality that has suffered greatly due to war. Its needs are great. There is little central government control of the regions, the economy and the institutions of civil society are in tatters, much of the country suffers from food instability and the effects of drought, and the country remains one of the most heavily land-mined in the world. Although its problems are many, Afghanistan is not without hope.

Until September 11, Afghanistan was largely forgotten by the world. Aid agencies battled to provide services to its population under heavy restrictions imposed by the Taliban, and in the face of indifference from donor countries. The Taliban in turn showed no interest in governing the country themselves beyond their restricted interpretation of Islam. Although it has failed to provide a comprehensive solution to Afghanistan's ills, American action cut this Gordian knot by military intervention, opening the doors to large-scale foreign aid and the reconstruction of the nation's infrastructure.

In October 2004, presidential elections were held for the first time in Afghanistan's history, with Hamid Karzai as head of state. Fears of widespread violence disrupting the vote proved largely groundless, although parliamentary elections have been delayed three times, and are now scheduled for October 2005.

Several millions refugees returned to Afghanistan, although pledges of foreign aid have often not been met with delivery on the ground. The education system is in slow but steady recovery, but the country's infrastructure remains battered - repairing the road network seems to be taking a torturously long time. To some degree, Kabul is a reconstruction bubble, with progress there often not reflected across the country as a whole.

The experience of the last few years has shown that a country cannot be rebuilt overnight. The initial refusal of the international community to extend ISAF's mandate beyond control has had serious implications. Hamid Karzai has often been derided as the 'Mayor of Kabul', and his position in the country at large has been undermined by the continued support given to local warlords by the USA, in pursuance of their war against terror. That said, the election has given Karzai a new legitimacy, started to break the stranglehold of the Northern Alliance on politics and started to reverse alienation of the large Pashtun population.

South and east Afghanistan remain subject to a faltering Taliban resistance. For most Afghans however their concerns relate to a general lack of security rather than the actions of their former overlords. Swathes of northern Afghanistan are awash with guns, warlords and commanders can still act with impunity, and the much-vaunted disarmament programme has only succeeded in removing heavy weapons from the scene. Ready access to small arms and the lack of reintegration opportunities for fighters continue to hamper the growth of the civil state.

Afghanistan's economy remains addicted to opium, which has boomed since the fall of the Taliban. Eradication and replacement programmes are expected to produce a fall in production in 2005

Afghanistan's greatest hope remains the strength of its people, who are truly weary of war and desire positive change. Afghanistan in 2005 is neither a success nor a disaster. Despite it's problems, the country is largely at peace. If the international community does not look away, and the Karzai government can start to deliver genuine improvements to its people, the slow but steady progress that has been made since the end of 2001 may give grounds for cautious optimism.