Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: December 2012

Die Warlords als Oligarchen

AAN Team •

German Foreign Policy (blog), 21 December 2012 The blog summarises Thomas Ruttig’s contribution ‘Das Scheitern der Luftlande-Demokratie in Afghanistan’ to a German publication.

AAN in the Media Read more

Protecting Freedom at the Hindukush: Source of Famous Afghanistan Quote Dies

Thomas Ruttig •

On Wednesday, former German defence minister Peter Struck died, he who coined the controversial sentence that Germany’s security needs to be defended even ‘at the Hindukush’. Almost no other statement has shaped the Afghanistan-related discussion in Germany like this one. AAN’s Thomas Ruttig looks back at this debate and finds it being more of a […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghan Reporter on Risks of Covering Sensitive Stories

admin •

IWPR, 20 December 2012 Reporter Abdul Maqsud Azizi tells the story how he investigated land conflicts related to the extension of an US military base in the southern part of Logar province.

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Falsche Erfolgsmeldungen aus Afghanistan

AAN Team •

Zeit online (Hamburg), 19 December 2012 In an article on the recent trip of German President Joachim Gauck to Afghanistan, during which he re-started the rather bizarre discussion about whether there is a ‘war’ in Afghanistan (he called it a ‘war-like situation’), the author – a security blogger – lists some ‘wrong success stories’ by […]

AAN in the Media Read more

At war’s end, ramping up drone strikes in Afghanistan

admin •

Reuters (blog)
, 19 December 2012 Reuter’s Sanjeev Miglani
 picks up an under-reported issue: drone strikes in Afghanistan: ‘The United States carried out more drone strikes in Afghanistan this year than it has done in all the years put together in Pakistan since it launched the covert air war there eight years ago. […] U.S. Air […]

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Civilian analysts gained Petraeus’s ear while he was commander in Afghanistan

admin •

Washington Post, 19 December 2012 Another interesting article by WP’s Rajiv Chadrasekaran, author of ‘Little America’, about how Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, ‘a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts’ were hired by then ISAF commander Petraeus who allowed them unprecedented freedoms and influence on this thinking.

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Германия защитила выборы от Афганис

AAN Team •

Kommersant (Russia), 18 December 2012 In an article on Germany’s role in Afghanistan, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying that he doesn’t expect that Afghanistan won’t become a central issue in the 2013 German elections.

AAN in the Media Read more

Credible Afghan Elections Seen Critical to Future Stability, Donor Backing

AAN Team •

US Institute of Peace, 13 December 2012 Read a short summary of the 11 December event at USIP Washington in which AAN Advisory Board chairman Francesc Vendrell and Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig discussed reconciliation and elections during two panels (see also ‘events’)

AAN in the Media Read more

A Potential Afghan Spill-Over: How Real Are Central Asian Fears?

S Reza Kazemi •

Afghanistan is bracing itself for its transition. Most foreign troops will be gone by 2014 and Afghanistan’s already controversial elections have been fixed for early April that year while peace with the armed opposition remains elusive. Afghan domestic politics aside, how is the transition in Afghanistan perceived in its northern neighbourhood, which is under-explored, compared […]

Regional Relations Read more

Joint Statement Adopted at the Conclusion of the Seventh Trilateral Summit, 11-12 December 2012

admin •

Joint Statement Adopted at the Conclusion of the Seventh Trilateral Summit of the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey. The copy of the joint statement can be found here.    

International documents on Afghanistan Read more

Transfers and Torture: The British Army halts transfers of detainees to the NDS

Sari Kouvo •

President Karzai has warned British forces that they must hand detainees over and may not hold any detainees themselves. The warning follows a British government decision to stop all transfers after a former UK detainee, Sardar Mohammed, challenged their legality, given the risk of torture by the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS). Sardar Mohammed […]

International Engagement Read more

Wer hat am Hindukusch noch den Überblick? (not online)

AAN Team •

Basler Zeitung (Switzerland), 9 December 2012 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted here: «Es gibt bereits so viele lokale Milizen neben der Polizei, das kaum noch jemand den Überblick behalten kann.» Mohammed Atta etwa, der Gouverneur in der Stadt Mazar-i-Sharif, die gleichzeitig als Hauptquartier der deutschen Bundes- wehr dient, hält schon lange Distanz zu Kabul. «Das […]

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