Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: November 2012

Afghan Clash Raises Sectarian Fears

AAN Team •

Wall Street Journal, 25 November 2012 Wall Street Journal article selectively quotes AAN’s Martine van Bijlert (who had also stressed that such incidents currently remain small and scattered and do not necessarily represent widely spread sentiments): The incidents of sectarian tensions in Kabul that are becoming more frequent create a vicious circle, analysts say.

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National Ulema Council Seeks More Executive Power

admin •

ToloNews, 24 November 2012 The Ulema Council of Afghanistan is seeking more authority via the establishment of a new Dar al-Ifta – a scholarly institute with the authority to issue binding decrees concerning Islamic law or ‘fatwas’. The council discussed their demand with President Hamid Karzai on Friday during a meeting requested by the president […]

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US opens Afghan talks on long-term troop presence after 2014

AAN Team •

The Guardian, 19 November 2012 ‘Afghanistan and the US have opened talks to keep American troops in the country, but the thorny question of immunity for American soldiers, which in effect ended the US role in Iraq last year, is likely to prove a stumbling block.’, writes Emma Graham-Harrison. And quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: ‘To […]

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Guns, Girls and Grizzled Warriors: Ismail Khan’s mujahedin council project in the West

Fabrizio Foschini •

The phenomenon of Afghan strongmen visiting their home provinces and delivering fiery speeches to their ‘traditional’ constituencies is all but new. Still, it has intensified as of late, as the transition process is said to progress and the next presidential election approaches. The most recent rendition given by the Minister of Water and Energy, Ismail […]

Political Landscape Read more

Petraeus: More myth than man

admin •

Global Post, 16 November 2012 Jean MacKenzie has collected a few opinions – and facts – why Gen Petraeus was over-lionised: According to the New Yorker’s John Lee Abderson ‘lionization by admiring and opportunistic politicians and fawning journalists and biographers has been craven and boundless’.

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The Asia Foundation’s 2012 survey and how to read opinion polls in Afghanistan

Martine van Bijlert •

On 14 November the Asia Foundation released its 2012 ‘Survey of the Afghan People’, based on data collected by ACSOR (Afghan Center for Socio-Economic Research), a Kabul-based research organisation that has done the data collection for almost all large publicly released opinion polls. It is the eighth survey in its kind: the first was released […]

Political Landscape Read more

Just about over the First Hill: Pakistan’s Release of Afghan Taleban

Thomas Ruttig •

The release of a number of Afghan Taleban by Pakistan, as announced on 14 November, may prove crucial for an urgently needed breakthrough on a political settlement in Afghanistan. It is also the first big personal success for Rabbani Junior at the helm of the Afghan High Peace Council. But too much optimism would be […]

War and Peace Read more

External publication: Social protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid

Martine van Bijlert •

In: “The cup, the gun and the crescent Social welfare and civil unrest in Muslim societies”; Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Jonathan Parker & Azlinda Azman (eds.), Whiting & Birch Publication date: November 2012

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Social protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid

Martine van Bijlert •

“Social Protection in Afghanistan: Between conflict, transition and international aid” by Martine van Bijlert In: The Cup, The Gun and The Crescent. Social welfare and civil unrest in Muslim societies; Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Jonathan Parker & Azlinda Azman (eds.), Whiting & Birch Publication date: November 2012

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Police test Afghanistan’s fragile ethnic balance

AAN Team •

Some analysts agree that Afghanistan’s ethnic divisions have been oversimplified, and even misunderstood. “There is a tendency among observers to overestimate the animosity between the north and the south, or rather to see it something fixed and static. As if people hate each other just because they are from different areas. It’s not like that,” […]

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