The Afghanistan-Pakistan border region is a large, ungoverned space and a constant source of instability. Both countries have long grappled with the question of how to rule this rugged frontier, which many regard as ungovernable. Pakistan employs a draconian law known as the Frontier Crimes Regulation, originally instituted by the British Raj in 1872, and with destabilizing and violent results. This talk examines the evolution of frontier rule in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and how similar models of governance have been applied as far afield as Kenya, Nigeria, Argentina, and even the United States. It also considers the implications for U.S. policy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and future possibilities for this volatile frontier.