I. INTRODUCTION
This short paper seeks to provide a few analytical observations on the problems of international law arising from tribalism with special reference to the Pathan tribal belt lying on either side of the Afghan-Pakistan border and the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is important to note that Pathan tribes and tribalism, which is a way of life for people who are affiliated by blood lines and are organised by reference to tribal structures, are not synonymous with terrorist groupings such as Al Qaeda although they are both characterised by mutual antipathy to westernisation, as they see it. It is also important to state at the outset that the Pathan nation is but one of the three main ethnic units in Afghanistan, and one of four in Pakistan. However, the Pathan nation dominates Afghanistan and has done so for centuries, and it is this group with which this study is concerned.