DescriptionIn my dissertation I posit a simple question: What is the importance of local leaders and local identity groups to the stability of a state's border and ultimately, the stability of the state? In order to answer this question I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the borderlands of Afghan/Tajik Badakhshan. As part of my fieldwork, I lived with families, worked with NGOs and IGOs and studied local foundational narratives. As a framework for my analysis, I define three main concepts: borders, institutions, and identity. The interaction of these concepts with the data collected during my fieldwork led me to three main findings. First, when the state increases authority through formalization of institutional infrastructure at the border, then local leaders will be marginalized and the local population will be alienated from the state and this will decrease overall stability. Moreover, national identity will weaken while (some) local identities will strengthen. Second, if the state works to monopolize power at the border, the stability in the border region decreases as local groups assert alternative forms of identity as a form of silent protest. Third, if local leaders and organizations are given semi-autonomy in coordination with state border forces, then the borderlands will be more stable and national identity will be more broadly accepted.