This book examines counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan following the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001. It is based on repeated trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It focuses on the early stages of the insurgency—from 2002 until 2008—and examines why and how the insurgency began. It also draws lessons from the broader literature on counterinsurgency warfare and provides recommendations to help the United States develop capabilities and improve performance in future counterinsurgency operations. The focus of this research is on the U.S. military. However, since the actions of other U.S. government agencies, countries, international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are obviously important, they are discussed where appropriate. The results should be of interest to a broad audience of policymakers and academics concerned with counterinsurgency and the related issues of state-building, nation-building, and stability operations. This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on RAND’s International Security and Defense Policy Center, contact the Director, James Dobbins. He can be reached by iv Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan email at James_Dobbins@rand.org; by phone at 703-413-1100, extension 5134; or by mail at the RAND Corporation, 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050. More information about RAND is available at www.rand.org.

BALOCH NATIONALISM AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY RESOURCES:
THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF SEPARATISM IN PAKISTAN

Robert G. Wirsing
April 2008
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined
in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the
public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States
Code, Section 105, it may not be copyrighted.
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Balochistan is a province straddling Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan inhabited by twelve million Baloch people. Historically autonomous and culturally distinct from other areas of Pakistan and Iran, Balochistan has never enjoyed political and economic autonomy. The province has been a source of constant conflict and instability for decades because of its geo-political position and natural wealth.

A Balochi teaching Book written by Molvi Khair mohd Nadvi.

An Analysis written by Selig S Harrison about Baloch Nationalism and Super Power Rivalary. Selig S Harrison is the writer of the Book "In Afghanistan's Shadow Baluch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations", which is considered a Bible for Baloch Studies.

A Chart of Baloch Tribes and Sub Tribes

Disturbed by reports of renewed armed conflict in parts of Balochistan that began to pour in during December 2005, an HRCP fact-finding team visited the troubled areas near Kohlu and in January, as fighting expanded, another mission visited Dera Bugti and Sui.

The oral tradition of the Baloch belongs to an ethnic group speaking a
northwest Iranian language called Balochi and inhabiting Balochistan, a
country now divided among Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. It was until
recently—and to a great extent in many parts of the country it remains even
now—a living art. It is, however, an art that is losing ground rapidly to the
written word and to modern means of communication and entertainment.

This dissertation is a case study in nationalism. It examines the theoretical writings on
the subject and concludes that nationalism is the sense of identity shared by a group of people
who are linked by either a civic-territorial or by a linguistic-ethnic bond and by the belief
that their corporate interests can best be protected by control of their own state. The central theme of the dissertation revolves around two basic questions:

1. Is there a Baloch nationality with a sufficiently developed national consciousness and distinctive characteristics shared by the members of this nationality.
2. If so, is the national consciousness of the Baloch, their determination to maintain their national identity, and their desire for political elf-government, strong enough to say that there is a Baloch national movement.
The dissertation serves several purposes. It fills a gap in our knowledge of Baloch nationalism in Pakistan and Iran and explores in detail its development in the 1920-80 period. By adopting a comparative approach it contributes to a better understanding of sub-national movements in both countries. The main approach to the study is historical: using primary and secondary sources, it describes and analyses the foundations, evolution, dynamics and implications of Baloch nationalism.

A Booklet about the old Ancient Brahui Poets