Hamid Karzai in the context of "Kabul International Airport"

The Tajikistan-Afghanistan bridge spanning the Panj River between Panji Poyon (or Nizhniy Pyandzh), Tajikistan and Sherkhan Bandar, Afghanistan was opened on 26 August 2007.The two-lane bridge is 672 metres (2,205 feet) long and 11.6 metres (38 feet) wide. It cost approximately $40 million, financed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and was designed and constructed by Italian company Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A.The Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were joined by US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez at the opening ceremony.

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed after the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan that had toppled the partially recognized Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, on 15 August 2021, the country was recaptured by the Taliban, which marked the end of the 2001–2021 war, the longest war in US history. This led to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate under the control of the Taliban, today the ruling government of Afghanistan. While the United Nations still recognizes the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, this toppled government controls no portion of the country. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020 in Qatar, was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.

Following the September 11 attacks, the United States and several allies invaded Afghanistan, overthrowing the Taliban's first government (which had limited recognition) in support of the opposition Northern Alliance. Afterwards, a transitional government was formed under the leadership of Hamid Karzai. After the 2003 loya jirga, a unitary presidential Islamic republic was proclaimed under a new constitution, and Karzai was elected for a full term as president. Meanwhile, the US-led international coalition helped maintain internal security, gradually transferring the burden of defense to the Afghan Armed Forces after 2013–14.

The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a United States-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.

The insurgency had spread to some degree over the border to neighboring Pakistan, in particular Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Taliban conducted warfare against Afghan National Security Forces and their NATO allies, as well as against civilian targets. Regional countries, particularly Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia, were often accused of funding and supporting the insurgent groups.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1386 pursuant to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined the creation of a permanent Afghan government following the United States invasion in October 2001. ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions; it gradually took part in the broader war in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgency.

ISAF's initial mandate was to secure the Afghan capital of Kabul and its surrounding area against opposition forces to facilitate the formation of the Afghan Transitional Administration headed by Hamid Karzai. In 2003, NATO took command of the mission at the request of the UN and Afghan government, marking its first deployment outside Europe and North America. Shortly thereafter, the UN Security Council expanded ISAF's mission to provide and maintain security beyond the capital region. ISAF incrementally broadened its operations in four stages, and by 2006 took responsibility for the entire country; ISAF subsequently engaged in more intensive combat in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The provinces of Afghanistan (Dari: ولايت wilāyat) are the primary administrative divisions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. There are 34 provinces in Afghanistan. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages.

Provincial governors played a critical role in the reconstruction of the Afghan state following the creation of the new government under Hamid Karzai. According to international security scholar Dipali Mukhopadhyay, many of the provincial governors of the western-backed government were former warlords who were incorporated into the political system.

The 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan was the supreme law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which lasted from 2004 to 2021. It served as the legal framework between the Afghan government and the Afghan citizens. Although Afghanistan (Afghan Empire) was made a state in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the earliest Afghan constitutional movement began during the reign of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan in the 1890s followed by the drafting in 1922 of a constitution. The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan transformed Afghanistan into a modern democracy.

The constitution was approved by the consensus in January 2004 after the 2003 loya jirga. The Constitution consists of 162 articles and was officially signed by Hamid Karzai on January 26, 2004. It evolved out of the Afghan Constitution Commission mandated by the Bonn Agreement. The constitution provides for an elected President and National Assembly. The transitional government of interim president Hamid Karzai was put in place after the June 2002 loya jirga. The first presidential elections after the new constitution was in effect, took place in October 2004, and Karzai was elected to a five-year term. The first elections for the National Assembly were delayed until September 2005. The constitution was essentially abolished on August 15, 2021, with the overthrow and dissolution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by the Taliban. In August 2022, it was confirmed to the public that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had earlier formally abolished the 2004 Constitution on his authority.

The Karzai administration was the government of Afghanistan under President Hamid Karzai, who became the head of state of Afghanistan in December 2001 after the Taliban government was overthrown. Karzai was appointed at the 2002 Loya Jirga as the Interim President of the Afghan Transitional Administration. After the 2004 Afghan presidential election, he became the President of Afghanistan.