Games without rules: the often interrupted history of Afghanistan

Afghanistan becomes a country. Founding father ; Ahmad Shah's Afghanistan ; Farangis on the horizon ; Between the lion and the bear ; Auckland's folly ; The second coming of Dost Mohammed ; Eight or ten good years ; Interrupted again

One country, two worlds. A time of blood and iron ; Starting fresh ; King of the radicals ; King's law versus God's law ; Things fall apart

Kabul rules. After the storm ; Nonaligned nation ; Development, no brakes ; The democracy era ; Rise of the left ; Change by decree ; The Soviet occupation

Old Afghanistan erupts. The Mujahideen ; Cold war endgame ; From horror to chaos ; Out of the camps ; Taliban versus Mujahideen ; Al Qaeda ; America enters the picture

The struggle resumes. The Bonn project ; Kabul spring ; The persistence of trouble ; Drugs and corruption ; Talibanism ; The tipping point ; Obama's surges ; All that glitters

Postscript.