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Topic · Political Science and International Relations

Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East is a research topic within Political Science and International Relations. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 16.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the complex issues of conflict reconstruction, state-building, and security in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a particular emphasis on the influence of the Taliban, militant Islam, and the challenges of nation-building in Central Asia. The papers explore the historical, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of these conflicts and their implications for reconstruction efforts.

  • Afghanistan
  • Pakistan
  • State-Building
  • Taliban
  • Conflict
  • Reconstruction
  • Militant Islam
  • Central Asia
  • Nation-building
  • Security
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+62%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research?

By volume, Pakistan and the United States publish the most (1.4k and 655 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Pakistan 1.4k works
  2. 2 United States 655 works
  3. 3 India 618 works
  4. 4 Türkiye 335 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 282 works
  6. 6 Afghanistan 227 works
  7. 7 Nigeria 150 works
  8. 8 China 131 works
  9. 9 Iran 115 works
  10. 10 Iraq 106 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Pakistan: 35.3%United States: 16.2%India: 15.3%Türkiye: 8.3%6 others listed: 25.0%35%largest
Pakistan1,430 · 35.3%United States655 · 16.2%India618 · 15.3%Türkiye335 · 8.3%6 others listed1,010 · 25.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of the Punjab publishes the most Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research, followed by International Islamic University, Islamabad and Quaid-i-Azam University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of the PunjabPakistan 89 works
  2. 2 International Islamic University, IslamabadPakistan 75 works
  3. 3 Quaid-i-Azam UniversityPakistan 56 works
  4. 4 Islamia University of BahawalpurPakistan 51 works
  5. 5 National University of Modern LanguagesPakistan 48 works
  6. 6 Nangarhar UniversityAfghanistan 46 works
  7. 7 University of PeshawarPakistan 45 works
  8. 8 Government College University, FaisalabadPakistan 44 works
  9. 9 University of BalochistanPakistan 36 works
  10. 10 Abdul Wali Khan University MardanPakistan 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East include Robert O. Keohane and Stanley Hoffmann.

  1. 1 Robert O. Keohane United States 2.7k citations
  2. 2 Stanley Hoffmann United States 2.3k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research done?

The largest centres of Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research in 2022–2025 are Islamabad (Pakistan), Lahore (Pakistan), Peshawar (Pakistan) and Karachi (Pakistan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Jalalabad and Kabul.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Islamabad Pakistan 331 works
  2. 2 Lahore Pakistan 291 works
  3. 3 Peshawar Pakistan 143 works
  4. 4 Karachi Pakistan 110 works
  5. 5 New Delhi India 104 works
  6. 6 London United Kingdom 90 works
  7. 7 Kabul Afghanistan 81 works
  8. 8 Moscow Russia 72 works
  9. 9 Washington D.C. United States 72 works
  10. 10 Istanbul Türkiye 70 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. JalalabadAF · 49.9 works552×
  2. KabulAF · 81.1 works136×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East than the world average.

See Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East on the map

Where is the best place to study Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East?

Among universities, judged by research, Kabul University, University of Sussex and University of Peshawar score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 22.53%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Kabul University: 34, 33.0%University of Sussex: 10, 38.2%University of Peshawar: 45, 15.7%Quaid-i-Azam University: 56, 12.2%Government College University, Faisalabad: 44, 11.8%Kandahar University: 9, 44.6%Bahauddin Zakariya University: 35, 11.4%National Defence University: 21, 17.8%Lahore University of Management Sciences: 16, 33.3%Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan: 36, 7.3%University of SussexKabul UniversityUniversity of PeshawarQuaid-i-Azam Univers…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Kabul UniversityAfghanistan 77.833.0%115.1×34 +478.1%
2 University of SussexUnited Kingdom 71.538.2%9.6×10 +295.0%
3 University of PeshawarPakistan 71.415.7%108.4×45 +363.5%
4 Quaid-i-Azam UniversityPakistan 71.312.2%72.0×56 +259.4%
5 Government College University, FaisalabadPakistan 68.511.8%54.3×44 +565.8%
6 Kandahar UniversityAfghanistan 67.844.6%171.5×9 —
7 Bahauddin Zakariya UniversityPakistan 66.411.4%50.7×35 +292.4%
8 National Defence UniversityPakistan 66.417.8%220.9×21 +289.7%
9 Lahore University of Management SciencesPakistan 66.433.3%62.8×16 +81.4%
10 Abdul Wali Khan University MardanPakistan 66.27.3%76.7×36 +1227.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 62% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.