Has it always been a war-torn country?

Afghanistan’s importance as a focal point for trade and migration between East and West has seen it possessed and conquered by a host of peoples throughout history, including Arabs, Persians, Turks, Macedonians, Mongols and Mughals. In the 19th century the country was of key strategic importance in the ‘Great Game’ between Russia and the British empire; after several Anglo-Afghan wars, it fell into British hands before regaining independence in 1919. Sixty years later, Afghanistan once again became the pawn in a struggle between two superpowers, this time the Cold War adversaries: the USSR and the USA.