Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: January 2013

Zero or Zero Plus? US-Afghan negotiations over the war

Kate Clark •

Presidents Obama and Karzai are due to start the wrangling over their countries’ post-2014 military relationship during the Afghan president’s current visit to Washington. US soldiers, bases, training, equipment, money, immunity all need to be hammered out, although no-one is expecting results just yet. Figures floated in recent days by US government and military officials […]

War and Peace Read more

U.S. policy and troops in Afghanistan

admin •

Washington Post, 11 January 2013 A soft-spoken but dramatic analysis of a tacit US policy change by former US Ambassador to Kabul Ronald Neumann: ‘A presence of 3,000 to 6,000 troops is a counterterrorist policy that gives up on serious support for the Afghan military and focuses on killing our enemies. It offers nothing to […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Truppenabzug aus Afghanistan – Ist das Land stabil genug?

Other AAN •

Detektor.fm (German internet radio), 10 January 2013 Listen to an audio (in German) with an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, commenting on the so-called ‘zero option’ of a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and about the country’s post-2014 prospects of stability.

AAN in the Media Read more

Talking to the Taliban

admin •

Foreign Policy, 10 January 2013 A very interesting and differentiated historical and post-2001 perspective on his experience in talking to Taleban, why they talk in certain contexts and what that means for future negotiations with them by Michael Semple.

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The Poppy Palaces … of Kabul, where Scarface meets Scarsdale

admin •

Vanity Fair, 9 January 2013 The author looks into the narco-palaces of Sherpur, with ‘“For Rent” signs all over’ it and waiting that ‘Blackwater’s coming’, referring to the security firm now called Academi, and the US’s ‘zero option’.

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Karzai meets Obama: How will they shape a post-2014 Afghanistan?

Other AAN •

Christian Science Monitor
, 8 January 2013 AAN’s Martine van Bijlert contradicts assumptions of a post-2014 collapse in Afghanistan: ‘There is now a sense [among foreigners] that the lights are going to go out in 2014, that the sun is going to stop shining. In the early years, they had this overly rosy picture, but since […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Unterschriften gegen sexuelle Gewalt

Other AAN •

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 8 January 2013 In a short article, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig reports a gang rape case from Ghazni province and the protest campaign of Afghan civil society organisations for a better implementation of the Law for the Elimination of Violence against Women, also quoting AAN’s Wazhma Samandary’s AAN blog on the subject.

AAN in the Media Read more

‘Zivilisten geraten zwischen die Fronten’

Other AAN •

ARTE online, 8 January 2013 The French-German TV channel’s website publishes an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (in German) about the humanitarian outcome of the Afghan war. He mentions the lack of a sufficient response by governments to the UN calls for winter relief, the problems of civilians between the frontlines and of the population […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Hidden casualties of Afghan war: nomadic farmers adopt more settled life

admin •

Guardian, 8 January 2013 An interesting glimpse into often-idealised nomadic life in Afghanistan by Emma Graham-Harrison, based on research by the Pastoral Engagement, Adaptation and Capacity Enhancement (Peace) programme. According to it, ‘hundreds of thousands’ of nomads have settled down ‘or are petitioning the government for land so they can join a more mainstream way […]

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As Karzai Visits U.S., What Are The Prospects For Afghan Peace?

Other AAN •

PBS/WLRN Miami, 7 January 2013 In a report about the forthcoming US visit of President Karzai, prospects for peace talks are discussed and AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted as saying: ‘I think peace is possible here.’ She says that one of the main challenges is that there are so many players — the U.S., the […]

AAN in the Media Read more

E-tazkera: relieving pre-election tension or adding to the confusion?

Obaid Ali •

One of the ideas to prevent fraud and ensure fairness in future elections is the accelerated introduction of electronic identity cards to Afghanistan. According to the Ministry of Interior it will take at least a decade until all Afghans have the planned new identity cards, but proponents of the e-tazkera believe the project can still […]

Political Landscape Read more

6 January 2013: AAN author Thomas Ruttig in Spanish Review

AAN • admin •

‘Cómo empezó todo: Un breve repaso a los orígenes de los conflictos en Afganistán anteriores a 1979’ (How It All Began: An Introduction into the pre-1979 origins of Afghanistan’s Conflicts) is an article by AAN co-director an senior analyst Thomas Ruttig written for issue 119 of the Spanish review ‘PAPELES de relaciones ecosociales y cambio […]

Events Read more

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