Full text [ KB] - 22 pages Summary This article highlights contradictions in the liberal peace that have become apparent in post-Taliban state-building in Afghanistan. If warlords are overly ruthless in their extractive policies, they are likely to exhaust the very resources that sustain them. Instead, many warlords have developed sophisticated political economies that allow the careful husbandry of resources. As a strategy of pure predation is unsustainable, warlord systems may provide a minimum level of public service or the extension of patronage, and may exploit a shared identity within their constituency.
Warlords are often depicted as politico-military actors who exploit state weakness. They operate in systems of insecurity. The persistence of warlordism in the post-Taliban period, and its incorporation into government, can be explained by three interlinked factors: the de facto power and social relevance of the warlords; the peculiar nature of the state-building project; and the continued insecurity: The legacy of the war against the Soviet Union and the civil war left a number of well-armed warlords, enmeshed into socio-cultural politics, who derived their status and income from local sources and were sceptical of any centralising authority.
We have just released Stronghold: Warlords version 1. Out now on Steam and GOG, our second Skirmish Trail Update introduces 15 additional Skirmish Trail missions, a new unit on the form of the fiery Thunderbomb Thrower, the powerful Wolf Warlord and three multiplayer map remakes inspired by your comments and the original Stronghold: Crusader.
Our second skirmish trail was designed with player feedback in mind. We have increased the challenge and total mission count, while still providing multiple difficulty settings and of course the legendary chicken, which combined should allow all players to see it through. These new Trail missions feature all added Stronghold: Warlords content to date, including 2 new AI opponents, new warlords, units and maps.
We hope you enjoy the new trail and let us know what you think, either in the comments below or on Discord, to help inform the design of future skirmish content. New Skirmish Trail Update October 12, In addition to our titular trail content, version 1. Our new warlord meanwhile can significantly boost your overall attacking power and siege capabilities, with various uses through his Edicts and Perk that make the Wolf a valued ally in the early, mid and late game.
But worry not! See the full story here: New Skirmish Trail Update. We have just released our new v1. See the full story here: Kublai Khan Update. Journey Eastward. Recruit Warlords. Rewrite History. Latest News. I define warlords as astute political entrepreneurs with a proven ability to organise violence and control territory. How will they adapt to yet another change in their politico-military environment? The term often carries a strong pejorative undertone, but it does depict an empirical reality.
I use the term, but adopt a definition that is detached from normativity and focuses on what these men do rather than what is assumed of them. In my recently published book, Warlord Survival: The Delusion of State Building in Afghanistan 2 , I define warlords as astute political entrepreneurs with a proven ability to organise violence and control territory.
They exert and transform authority across different spheres ideological, economic, military, social and political and at different levels of political affairs local, national and international. These individuals persist — during and after war — due to their ability to make themselves indispensable at these different levels of politics and to exploit the gaps and interactions between them. They survive because there is a demand for people who can organise violence and provide trust, security and employment along the way, at these different levels.
The mujahideen commanders later participated in the warlord politics of the s. Not only do warlords remain influential in the political system — to the point of becoming first vice president, for example — but they also hold power that goes far beyond simple military might and endures long past the moment they have ceased to command a credible force.
When the pressure of state centralisation prevents them from exerting military power and controlling territory, they transform, adjust and bide their time.
They shape-shift and instrumentalise what Westerners perceive as social disorder to ensure their survival in a changing political environment. Warlords throughout history To understand the resilience of Afghan warlords, we need to go back to the beginning of the Afghanistan wars. A resistance movement quickly organised itself around a few political parties and their leaders, exiled in Iran and Pakistan.
These leaders gathered external support, funding and military equipment, which they then redistributed to their commanders, dispersed throughout the Afghan territory and fighting a jihad against the Soviet Union on their behalf. It is these mujahideen commanders — and their pro-government counterparts, such as Dostum — who later participated in the warlord politics of the s.
On 14 April , the Geneva Accords acknowledged the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Afghan territory completed the following February. Contrary to expectations, the PDPA regime survived over three years after the departure of the last Soviet troops.
It ultimately fell in April , a few months after Moscow cut off all supplies, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December The mujahideen — and former pro-government commanders, like Dostum, who had eventually joined them — took control of Kabul. The Afghan capital rapidly became the scene of intense combat and ever-shifting alliances.
Some commanders captured what was left of the state infrastructure; others focused on expanding their zones of influence in the provinces. This situation led to a progressive concentration of power and the emergence of regional polities run by warlords, who started ruling autonomously over significant parts of the Afghan territory.
These warlords established access to capital through international patronage networks to wage war more effectively, defeat rivals and extend territorial control. They sustained state-like administrative systems, schools and hospitals, until they were defeated by the Taliban and had to abandon their strongholds.
Some spent years in exile; others joined the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, the anti-Taliban resistance better known as the Northern Alliance , operating from Tajikistan and northeastern Afghanistan — the only area in the country that still escaped Taliban control.
They were soon followed by special operation forces sent to coordinate air support, using the Northern Alliance fighters as proxies on the ground and creating lasting personal relationships with them. The operation, aimed at toppling the Taliban regime, was a tremendous military success. Within weeks, Taliban forces were expelled from key cities around the country, including Kabul, causing the regime to collapse as warlords and their fighters secured the provinces.
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