Behind Pakistan's 'Open War' Rhetoric: A Century of Strategic Depth Dreams
Let's follow the trail: Pakistan's defense minister declares 'open war' against the Afghan governing establishment, framing recent border skirmishes as a fundamental conflict. This aggressive pronouncement, however, obscures a long-standing Pakistani policy of attempting to mold Afghanistan to its own strategic interests. It is not merely about current cross-border operations but about an unbroken
thread of foreign policy stretching back decades, consistently seeking 'strategic depth' in its western neighbor. This pursuit has roots in the 19th-century 'Great Game,' but explicitly crystallized after Pakistan's independence, intensifying after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Even in 1980, under General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan actively cultivated and supported various Afghan factions, an
involvement that often destabilized the region far more than it secured Pakistan's borders. This interventionist posture, now recycled as an 'open war' declaration, ignores the profound internal consequences for Afghanistan and the inherent asymmetry of power dynamics. Pakistan, with a GDP of over $375 billion, is imposing its will on Afghanistan, an economy crippled by decades of conflict and
international sanctions, where 97% of the population faces poverty. The current 'open war' declaration aligns with a pattern where Pakistan frequently instrumentalizes events along the Durand Line to reinforce its geopolitical narratives, often invoking internal security concerns to justify external pressure. Historically, such declarations have rarely led to sustained stability but instead fueled