ISLAMABAD: More than the issues of trust between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afghanistan is affected by its internal problems, said director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Kristian Berg Harpviken at the launch of his book on Tuesday.

The launch of ‘A Rock Between Hard Places: Afghanistan as an Arena of Regional Insecurity’ was hosted by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) at a local hotel.

Mr Harpviken has studied Afghanistan and the region for a long time and his research interests include wartime migration, transnational movements and mobilisation, regional security and the dynamics of civil war.

New book explains political, economic history of region and the power rivalries within

The book, which is written with Dr Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, is based on the modern political and economic history of the region and the power rivalry within it.

The authors explain why efforts to build a comprehensive Afghanistan-centric regional security order have failed and make suggestions for resetting inter-state relations.

Mr Harpviken said the book had been completed a year ago and that his co-author and him had wanted to research even more and warned that the book did not contain easy answers.

Those who attended the launch expressed interest in regional issues and their impact on different countries and a lively discussion followed Mr Harpviken’s speech.

Associated Press regional correspondent Kathy Gannon, who survived being shot in Afghanistan in 2014, suggested that the issue of borders between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India be discussed in order to ensure regional stability.

To this, Mr Harpviken said that solving border problems may not address all issues between countries of the region.

Defence analyst Zahid Hussain said Afghanistan was also affected by many external factors including the rivalry between India and Pakistan.

“The 2,500 kilometre border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is very porous and people can travel through to both sides, which is very difficult to manage,” he said.

The dispute over the Durand Line is also an issue between the two countries and Afghanistan is the only country which opposed the formation of Pakistan in the United Nations and refused to accept it, Mr Hussain said.

The analyst said that according to some reports, the Taliban and Russia were in some sort of contact, which may increase the problems of the region.

Ms Gannon spoke about competitions between militant groups in Afghanistan, which she said are trying to organise themselves and making recruitments.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2016