This volume is an outcome of a study trip undertaken by a team of researchers of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) to Kabul, in pursuit of research queries related to state-building in post-2001 Afghanistan. This study trip had a two-fold focus: to study the process of political, economic and social transition in Afghanistan and to explore the possibilities of constructive academic engagement between MAKAIAS and Afghan Institutes. It is a combination of a report and research papers of the team members and Afghan scholars an also contains important information on institutions and organisations in Kabul. Conceived to be an analysis of the challenges and dilemmas of state-building in contemporary Afghanistan this is also intended to be a guide to Afghan Studies.