Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: August 2012

AAN political parties paper series 2: Rise and Decline of Maoism

Niamatullah Ibrahimi • Robert Peszkowski •

With two new reports – ‘Ideology without Leadership: The rise and decline of Maoism in Afghanistan’ by Niamatullah Ibrahimi and ‘Reforming Jombesh: An Afghan Party on Its Winding Road to Internal Democracy’ by Robert Peszkowski – AAN has launched a new series of papers that look at the development of political parties and movements in […]

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Start of AAN political parties paper series 1: Reforming Jombesh

Niamatullah Ibrahimi • Robert Peszkowski •

With two new reports – ‘Reforming Jombesh: An Afghan Party on Its Winding Road to Internal Democracy’ by Robert Peszkowski and ‘Ideology without Leadership: The rise and decline of Maoism in Afghanistan’ by Niamatullah Ibrahimi – AAN has launched a new series of papers that look at the development of political parties and movements in […]

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Abuse allegations mount against flagship Afghan police force

admin •

Reuters, 29 August 2012 The discrepancies between the NATO narrative on the ALp and reality widens: Reuters reports, with reference to Afghanistan’s top military prosecutor, that ‘more than 100 ALP members have been jailed for crimes including murder, bombings, rapes, beatings and robbery’.

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A Pathan Moustache Hair’s Worth: Afghans in Bollywood, Bollywood in Afghanistan

Fabrizio Foschini •

Hardy, hungry Afghan highlanders have for centuries looked beyond the Khyber Pass in search of…movies. And, be it clever marketing, be it spontaneous fascination, Bollywood cinema has also been keen on portraying Afghans throughout its different eras. Fabrizio Foschini has been looking at the outcome of this colourful cultural encounter, helped by the fact that […]

Context and Culture Read more

Back to Qatar? Talks about talks, again

Thomas Ruttig •

This summer has brought news that indicated that talks between the US and the Taleban (or even the Afghan government and the Taleban) might possibly be rekindled. It all started rather sensationally with a member of the Taleban leadership publicly attending an (academic) conference, moving on to speculations about Pakistan allowing Kabul access to an […]

War and Peace Read more

Lack of Capacity and Capital: Is Afghanistan Under-Selling the Ainak Copper?

Gran Hewad •

Containing 240 million metric tons of ore at 2.3 per cent copper content, the Ainak mine is considered one of the largest deposits of this metal in the world. It is located in Muhammad Agha district of Logar province, about 30 kilometres south-east of the Afghan capital, and was contracted to a Chinese consortium in […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

What Surge? Afghanistan’s Most Violent Places Stay Bad, Despite Extra Troops

admin •

Wired (blog), 23 August 2012 ‘When President Obama surged 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Afghanistan in 2010, the new forces were concentrated overwhelmingly on two volatile areas of southern Afghanistan: Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. Now, as the troop surge is practically over, those provinces still rank as the most violent in the entire country. According […]

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Guest Blog: Big Bucks for Big Players – Logistic fortunes of the Afghan war

Mohammad Jawad •

The logistics business is one of the most lucrative yet murkiest aspects of international security operations in Afghanistan. Involving backroom dealings and hundreds of millions of dollars, the stakes are high, as is the alleged involvement of the Afghan political elite. So who’s running the show, what are the scams, and what will happen as […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Afghanistan Marks Independence Day With Low-Key Event

admin •

RFR/RL, 18 August 2012 The short report quotes Reuters, that several Kabul residents said they were disappointed that the historic day was no longer being marked by many Afghans.

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On the borders: Where do the attacks in Nimruz come from?

Fabrizio Foschini •

The recent multiple suicide attacks that hit Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province – with possibly one of the single biggest losses of lives in the Afghan conflict – received relatively small attention by the international media. Of course, both the global media and public are in a slack period regarding news from Afghanistan. The […]

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Latest Mining Discovery in Afghanistan: Information from EITI

admin •

Revenue Watch blog, 17 August 2012 No, no new mines discovered, but data from the first GoA reports to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative: ‘The report reveals a reality that contrasts with the headlines: anemic sector contribution to public revenues and government challenges in overseeing oil, gas and mining sector payment.’ And it transpired that […]

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