Since 2001, Afghanistan has been at the center of the United States’ war against terrorism. The now-familiar images of bearded mujahedeen and veiled women serve as a kind of visual shorthand for the history of the country and the struggles it has undergone in the past thirty years.

But Afghanistan is much more than these images – it is the land where Greek and Indo-European influences met in the time of Alexander the Great, it is the country that hosted one of the ancient sections of the Silk Road and the wild Hippie Trail of the late Sixties. Afghanistan is home to both the destroyed Bamiyan buddhas and the Minaret of Jam, an exquisite piece of architecture that has stood for almost ten centuries.

Look past the pictures in today’s newspapers to understand the political and cultural currents that have been at work in Afghanistan for centuries. Reach past the time of the Taliban to discover the role of women in Afghan society and use our interactive map to see how geography has changed the course of Afghan history. You can also access an array of blogs, historical resources and ways to get involved in helping build Afghanistan’s future.