Border Governance, State Presence and Human Security in the Balkh-Central Asia Interface

Abstract

Within the context of Afghanistan and Central Asia, this study investigates the problem of how weak border governance and limited state presence in Balkh Province create heightened human insecurity for border-communities adjacent to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Historically, Balkh has served as a gateway to Central Asia, hosting ethnically diverse groups and characterised by shifting governance and cross-border flows which place stress on formal border management and state legitimacy. Recent literature on Balkh highlights rising violent incidents, internal displacement and arms markets in the province -- for example the December 2020 EUAA Country Guidance for Balkh documents 811 violent events between March 2019 and June 2020. A key research question for this study is; How does the interaction between border governance mechanisms, state presence and local community dynamics influence human security outcomes in Balkh’s border-zones? Theoretical framing draws on the human security paradigm (e.g., Tadjbakhsh & Chenoy, 2007; Sarabi & McArthur, 2022) and borderland theory (e.g., Carter Malkasian, 2021) to analyse the shift from state-centred to people-centred security in a border interface setting. Finally, this paper argues for strengthening institutional presence, reinforcing community participation and cross-border coordination to mitigate human insecurity -- readers are encouraged to engage this analysis for policy-relevant insight into northern Afghanistan’s border governance challenges.