The verdict of history is that buffer states have never been able to form themselves into great political units. So was the case with Syria – a buffer state between the Empire of Rome and that of the Persians. It seems difficult to forecast the future of Afghanistan.

Arguably the greatest philosopher-poet of India and Pakistan at the dawn of the last century, Allama Iqbal wrote this in 1910.

The hi-story of Afghanistan is the story of that difficulty.