Afghanistan and the Ironamer

I think the afghans like to think of themselves as yagistan, the land of rebellion. The idea that there are these sort of village governments which and local governments and tribal governments which have just as much weight as the central government. And while people will pledge their allegiance to a central government, they won't necessarily bear it. You can look at the periods when strong central control has kept the country together, whether in a colonial form or whether in a domestic form, as very rare and exceptional moments in afghanistar.