The United States is the hegemonic power in the world. Afghanistan’s lack of power left a power vacuum in the nearing regions. In order to prevent other states from competing over that power, the United States being the strongest power went into fix it. Afghanistan is an anarchic state which means that no authority exists and that the state is sovereign. Since Afghanistan has no prominent governmental structure we will focus on the United States’ interaction with Afghanistan and its impact on the international system.
The United States while dealing with Afghanistan took on a realist approach in the international system. The United States proved that the current international system is one dominated by unipolarity and thus it was their responsibility to use their force in Afghanistan to increase stability. The United States continued with its realist approach by interacting with Afghanistan on a state level. In contrast, their interaction with Afghanistan through the United Nations represented a liberal approach.
Afghanistan has played a role in the international system for decades now. During the Cold War there was a bipolar system in which the Soviet Union and the United States were the two main powers. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan during the late 1970’s they were seeking to gain power in the international system. In contrast, in today’s unipolar system dominated by the United States, their invasion sought to increase global and regional stability by both removing a terrorist threat and a volatile government in the Middle East region.
