Construction has begun on the first real railroad in Afghanistan's history. Afghan officials and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry recently celebrated the project's launch with a formal ribbon cutting. A 50-mile link from neighboring Uzbekistan to the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif should be finished by September, followed by another line to the western city of Herat and from there to Iran.

This may seem to be a small event, but it is a geostrategic revolution. Afghanistan missed the 19th century's railroad boom because its fiercely independent rulers feared that trains would bring in too much influence -- or even troops -- from the neighboring Russian and British empires. One modernization-minded monarch in the 1920s did build a 4-mile link between Kabul and his suburban palace, but it was never more than a curiosity and has long since fallen into disrepair. As a result, all transport into the landlocked country must come by plane or truck, which are far less efficient at moving bulk cargo than is rail, contributing both to Afghanistan's economic isolation and logistical difficulties (subscription) for U.S. and NATO forces.

The new tracks are funded by the Asian Development Bank, a major donor to Afghanistan, but built by the Uzbek national railway. The Uzbek role is a big deal in itself, since the neighboring countries have historically avoided investing in Afghanistan. "It is a big deal.... especially that the Uzbeks are building it," said Thomas Sanderson, a Central Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "You have to have regional involvement, you have to get the neighbors involved in building up Afghanistan, to get them invested in the future."