The time has come to finally solve the quagmire in Afghanistan. Many recent concerns have been
raised regarding the situation. For example one of the main concerns is whether there could be
another way that could lead to Afghanistan s security. This study attempts to address Chinese
role in contributing to Afghanistan s stability through economic means. China in many ways
should start to be seen as a potential factor that could lead to the stabilization of its own
bordering region. Nowadays many countries are rather afraid of Chinese policies and tend be
rather cautious towards it. The solution for that would be that countries rather than being
afraid of Chinese policy should take a more opportunistic approach where China is seen as a
country to benefit others. Chinese reluctance to be militarily involved in Afghanistan has
presented huge criticisms towards its policy mainly from the U.S. point of view. China is even
being considered as a free rider in Afghanistan. Meaning that at the expense of others that try
to contribute to a more secure Afghanistan China is getting its economic benefits out of this
country without taking too much care to its security. For the time being it seems like a
controversy where China wants to invest heavily into Afghanistan but does not want to
contribute to any military interventions for its security sake. The question that lies ahead is
whether China has any interests in a secure Afghanistan and how far China is willing to
contribute to the process of stabilizing Afghanistan. Could the economical collaboration become
an important aspect that contributes to more security in Afghanistan? Could the capitalist
peace theory give some deeper understanding in this respect? Answering these questions is not
something that can be done easily. One of the reasons is that in the field of studies about
this particular issue not much has been researched about. Both countries do express some
interests in mutual cooperation however to clearly come to a conclusion of whether China is
or could be an important factor that would lead to Afghanistan s development and stability
requires further research. Nevertheless enough information exists to shed some light on the
issue through the presentation of the case study as well as to provide a starting point for
broader analyses.
