State-building and sub-national tensions in Afghanistan and Pakistan

The transition to a democratic system in Afghanistan and Pakistan has not silenced ethnic and religious tensions. The paper argues that sub-national identities in both countries have been politicized as a result of the unequal access to political power and economic resources and of foreign interference. While attempts to foster national cohesion by reference to a common religion may backfire, as the Pakistani case illustrates, more needs to be done to involve all elements of civil society, irrespective of their sub-national belonging, in the state-building process, to promote freedom of expression and purge textbooks from ethno- or religious-centric narratives.