This diploma thesis analyzes the approach of the Soviet Union and that of the US-led coalition to state-building in Afghanistan, which today, as in the past, takes place against the backdrop of counterinsurgency warfare. The analysis in the field of politics, economy and security shows that in both cases the intervening powers have focused on building a strongly centralized system of government, in spite of the fact that the Afghan countryside's relationship to the Kabul-based government had traditionally been characterized by broad autonomy. The intervening powers' efforts have futhermore been associated with the export of exogenous political structures and for this reason attention is also drawn to the question to what extent the intervening powers' approach to the modernization of Afghan society has contributed to the escalation of unrelenting conflict.