They are grouped around the city's most famous monument, the blue domed mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani - the 17th century ruler who founded modern Afghanistan.

BBC: In the shadow of the Taleban

In the eleven years since the American invasion of Afghanistan, Abdul Nasir has become a modern and prosperous professional.

NEWYORKER: After America

It is important for the international community to sustain its engagement in Afghanistan, to help its emergence as a modern state.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama and Prime Minister Singh Press Conference

The change is an acknowledgment that women on modern battlefields already are in the fight 152 women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and that military rules need to be updated to reflect realities of the current-day war zones.

WSJ: Panetta to Open Combat Roles to Women

Visits for Western dignitaries to inspect military installations and modern armaments, exchanges between senior students at military academies and candid accounts of the shortcomings of Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan all convey an impression of unprecedented openness, seemingly incompatible with hostile intent or threatening capabilities.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: US-Soviet Relations

Visits for Western dignitaries to inspect military installations and modern armaments, exchanges between senior students at military academies and candid accounts of the shortcomings of Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan -- all convey an impression of unprecedented openness, seemingly incompatible with hostile intent or threatening capabilities.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: US-Soviet Relations