Pushtunwali
The problem with the Afghan-Pakistan conflict is that many of those involved belong to neither. The Pushtun are not in league with the post-Westphalian nation-state system, nor are they entrapped by militant Islam. But how long can that continue? An absorbing article.
Pushtunwali | Honour among them | Economist.com
If history is any guide, many Pushtuns in northern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan will continue their drift to Islamist militancy until they are defeated, which looks impossible, or the Pakistani and Western forces are withdrawn. They are then likely to return to their simmeringly murderous tribal ways. That would be better than the current mess. But it would also leave millions of people outside the writ of Pakistan and Afghanistan. If either state is to succeed, the alternative writs of Pushtunwali and jihadist Islam will have to wither. But that will not be soon.
