You correctly cite as a principal problem the lack of unification, the patchwork of tribes. But it looks like we haven’t used the once unifying fear/distaste of the Taliban (and USSR invasion) properly to build upon something bigger in the void you mention than just returning to the local warlords and continued tribalism (I realize all of this is much easier said than done). We used the American revolution to build something bigger than our local tribes (colonies), although it took the civil war to unify us (remember Lee, etc..) nationally. And we had a few centuries of British/English nationalism behind us. Instead of such a focus on the national army (which seems successful) and police force (one of the biggest corruption problems, as always is in the lower than first tier countries), more emphasis on local and province level militias with emphasis on citizen building via the tribal structures would have helped (Ronderos-Peru). At least to get that level functioning, and then to cooperate with each other in a “intranational” manner would have seemed enough of a goal for several decades.

But you must also look at the paltry levels of economic programs spent versus the military expenses. You don’t want the drugs grown, nor unrest because of the antidrug programs, don’t attack the life blood of the family and tribe (and warlord), just compete by paying double or triple the price for whatever other crop. Plan to sustain the economy for a couple of decades, gradually decreasing the support as the rest of the economy grows.

In closing I really enjoy your video series and blog. Remember tribes can only act in a unified manner for relatively short periods of time, especially if the opponent acts sagely, buying off some while defeating others in turn (Cesar, Cortez, Pizarro).

You have an Interesting post that points out the differences between Afghanistan and Pre-Columbian tribal America, but there are many similarities. North America came to the attention of the Europeans because their territory was in the way of finding a route to Asia, and North American tribes did have to worry about the superpowers of the day, France, England and Spain vying for domination over trade, land and culture.

The French, and later the English tried to find the middle ground or “Pays d’en haut” in an attempt to keep the various tribal factions at peace and open to trade with the Europeans without encroachment on their tribal lands. This all came to naught when the citizens of the new United States moved west and dislodged the tribes, eventually disarming and disabling their tribal autonomy.

Afghanistan is a good example of what North America might be like today, without outside settlers.

A good book that discusses the efforts of the superpowers of those days to engineer a peaceful co-existence with Native Americans, is Richard White’s The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 (Studies in North American Indian History)