Episode notes
Afghanistan is often called the “graveyard of empires” — a place where powerful foreign armies enter with confidence, only to leave with frustration and unfinished missions.
But is Afghanistan truly unbeatable, or does its history reveal something deeper about the failure of grand strategy?
In this episode, we explore why Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States all struggled in Afghanistan despite their military power. From mountains and tribal networks to legitimacy, corruption, insurgency, regional politics, and the problem of time, Afghanistan exposes a hard truth: winning battles is not the same as building political success.
This is not just a story about Afghanistan. It is a lesson about empire, intervention, state-building, and the limits of power.