To really understand Afghanistan, one must understand its tribal cultures. The largest and most powerful ethnic group is the Pashtun. They are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, approximately 42 percent of the population. There are about 10.1 million Pashtun in Afghanistan, and another 14 million in Pakistan. Most Pashtun give higher allegiance to their tribe than to their citizenship as Afghans or Pakistanis. The free flow of people and goods between Pashtun areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan has given Afghan militants a refuge to rest and re-arm, and support for the Afghan Pashtun in Pakistan is undoubtedly helping to perpetuate the war.

 Physically the Pashtun are a Mediterranean variant of the Caucasian race, and they speak several dialects of the Pashtun language. The Pashtun have provided leadership in Afghanistan since the eighteenth century, and President Karzai is Pashtun, as are most of the Taliban.

      The prominent Pashtun institution is the Jirgah, the "Senate" of elected elders. Most decisions in Afghan tribal life are made by the Jirgah, the authority which the largely egalitarian Pashtun regard as their primary governing body. responsibility. It establishes values for honor, solidarity, hospitality, mutual support, shame, and revenge which determine social order and individual responsibility. The defense of honor, even unto death, is obligatory for every Pashtun. (We'll focus more closely on the Pushtunwali later.)