It's what the British couldn't conquer once they took everything up to the Khyber Pass. The Russians and Persians didn't go there, either. It's basically a bunch of tribes who hate each other but hate any invader even more.
It’s exactly that. That’s also Iraq, Pakistan, and much of Sub-Saharan Africa. All these colonies where somebody drew lines that made sense for the empire; not so much for the people living there. Ideally, those lines would simply get re-drawn so that people who haven’t been mortal enemies for 1,000 years aren’t forced to share power in a government or kill each other for control.
“It’s what the British couldn’t conquer once they took everything up to the Khyber Pass. The Russians and Persians didn’t go there, either. It’s basically a bunch of tribes who hate each other but hate any invader even more.”
I think China can control Afghanistan. They will send any resistance off on to camps via trains. China is that evil.