Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: September 2012

Insurgents and Factions: Waves of insecurity rising in Faryab

Obaid Ali •

Faryab province has turned, in the past few years, into an area of serious concern in Northern Afghanistan. Tensions between different factions still run high. The Jowzjan-Faryab highway faces a dire lack of security, and, except for a few areas, police only appear on it during daylight. The establishment of Afghan Local Police (ALP) units […]

War and Peace Read more

The Haqqani Network Blacklisted: From US Asset to Special Foe

Thomas Ruttig •

Earlier this month, the US government blacklisted the Haqqani network, labelling it a ‘foreign terrorist organisation’. Leaving aside the pros and cons of this decision, which have been fairly widely discussed, AAN co-director Thomas Ruttig looks at other questions: why did the blacklisting happen so late and why is the network singled out from the […]

International Engagement Read more

Das Scheitern der Luftlande-Demokratie in Afghanistan: Die Bonner Vereinbarungen von 2001 und die versandete Demokratisierung am Hindukusch – ein Blick von innen

Thomas Ruttig •

Thomas Ruttig, in: Marléne Neumann, Michael Schied and Diethelm Weidemann (eds), Afghanistan: Probleme, Konflikte, Perspektiven, Studien zur Geschichte und Gegenwart Asiens, vol. 3, Berlin: trafo Wissenschaftsverlag, pp 41-52. Full pdf of German article “Das Scheitern der Luftlande-Demokratie in Afghanistan: Die Bonner Vereinbarungen von 2001 und die versandete Demokratisierung am Hindukusch – ein Blick von innen” […]

External publications Read more

Bagram and Insider Attacks: ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ no longer?

Kate Clark •

It has been a rough week for US-led international forces, with threats, tensions and setbacks multiplying. The Taleban’s spectacular attack on Camp Bastion on 15 September, which left two soldiers – including a lieutenant colonel – dead, six fighter planes destroyed and two others damaged and ISAF’s narrative of a weakening insurgency looking fragile, was […]

International Engagement Read more

The US Army And Afghanistan’s Bad Divorce

admin •

The Daily Beast
 (blog), 19 September 2012 The experience of a former US trainer embedded in the Afghan security forces, saying that already ‘by the mid 2000s, the relationship [between the trainers and the Afghan troops] had begun to fray’ – because ‘the ANA was growing, getting better at its job, and chaffing at the […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Under Strange Flags: Afghans’ delayed protests against an ‘anti-Islam film’

Borhan Osman •

Afghanistan’s public has reacted, after a few days of delay, to a video produced by fringe anti-Islam activists in the US. While last Friday saw violent demonstrations in many parts of the Muslim world, Afghans widely remained quite calm despite mullahs across major cities preaching angry sermons about the hostility of America or the West, […]

Context and Culture Read more

Wahlkampf mit 10 000 Kugelschreibern (Campaign with 10,000 Ballpens)

admin •

FR online and Basler Zeitung, 17 Sept. 2010 Willi Germund’s protrait of a Kabul candidate with democratic leanings and some of his opponents, like the big landlord who was charged for drug offenses and still has better chances than the democrat (in German, the Basler Zeitung is only accesible for subscribers).

Recommended Reads Read more

Majority of Female Prisoners Jailed for Fleeing Home

admin •

ToloNews, 17 September 2012 An intersting about-face of the Afghan justice minister: after attacking women shelters as havens of prostitution several weeks ago (which drew angry protests and forced him to row back somewhat), he now admitted that most female prisoners in his country are jailed for something that is no crime at all: fleeing […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Shelling at the Durand Line: Popular outrage building up

Gran Hewad •

For the second year in a row, Pakistan is shelling Afghanistan’s eastern provinces, especially Kunar. The issue has recently become politically explosive, with calls for an army of volunteers to man the border and two key ministers being dismissed (on 4 August) over their failure to stop the shelling. Ordinary Afghans expect their government to […]

Regional Relations Read more

Filling the Power Ministries (3): Three Security Bosses Voted In

Fabrizio Foschini •

Today, after an indecisive week, the Wolesi Jirga smoothly voted its confidence for three out of four candidates previously introduced for the ministry posts. The morning mood inside the house left few doubts as to an eventual positive outcome; the protesters were few and mostly went unheeded. Even the only exception, the failure of Haji […]

Political Landscape Read more

Filling the Power Ministries (2): (No) News Flash

Kate Clark •

In an attempt to keep informing our readers about the key issue of the expected cabinet reshuffle, we had to invent a new category today: the No News Flash. The reason: the parliament’s lower house postponed the decision to Saturday, for the time being, and busied itself with statistics instead. AAN Researcher Obaid Ali, Senior […]

Political Landscape Read more

September 2012: German anthology on Afghanistan with AAN contribution published

AAN • admin •

Under the title ‘Das Scheitern der Luftlande-Demokratie in Afghanistan: Die Bonner Vereinbarungen von 2001 und die versandete Demokratisierung am Hindukusch – ein Blick von innen’, Thomas Ruttig’s contribution to the recently published AAN E-Book ‘Snapshots of an Intervention. The Unlearned Lessons of Afghanistan’s Decade of Assistance (2001–11)’ now is available also in German. It is […]

Events Read more

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