Published on, Sept. 26 -- September 26, 2025 1:53 AM

Bagram Air Base has always been more than concrete and tarmac. It is a map pin where multiple strategic stories intersect. Soviet-era power projection, the American-led post-9/11 wars, the Taliban's takeover, and now tri-nation contentions for it amongst the USA, China, and Russia, make Bagram Air Base a continuing focal point of shifting global rivalries and a symbol of how Afghanistan remains central to regional and great powers' strategy. Its runway length, elevation, and location in Parwan province are of strategic significance, being wedged between South and Central Asia and one mountain chain away from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China which sits at the crossroads of...