Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: August 2013

Happy Eid! And ten stories of celebrations and customs from all over the country

AAN Team •

Finally, after a month of dawn-to-sunset fasting, Eid al Fitr approaches, the Feast of the Breaking the Fast. The country will slow down significantly, Afghans take three to seven days off, the men go for Eid prayers, and for once there will be (hopefully) more play than politics. But Eid is more than that. There […]

Context and Culture Read more

Can Kabul Carry Two Melons in One Hand? Afghanistan and Iran sign strategic cooperation document

Thomas Ruttig •

Almost unnoticed by the international media, Afghanistan and Iran have signed a “Strategic Cooperation Agreement” during President Karzai’s recent trip to Tehran. The document includes provisions on bilateral military, intelligence and economic cooperation. The sequence indicates importance; the agreement is mainly a security agreement. However, it also contains ideas for a number of trilateral extensions […]

Regional Relations Read more

Safar ba London: Afghan youths on the move

Assunta Nicolini •

In the last decade, Afghanistan has produced the largest number of asylum seekers in Europe. Many of them are unaccompanied minors. For her doctoral studies, AAN guest author Assunta Nicolini carried out an in-depth study among Afghans migrating to the UK, summarizing some of her findings for this dispatch. She looks at why families decide […]

Migration Read more

Omar aus dem Off

Thomas Ruttig •

Frankfurter Allgemeine (online), 6 August 2013 Analysing Taleban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar’s Eid festival message, Friederike Böge quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig as saying that the conspicuously repeated use of “I” in the message is to signal that doubts about him being alive and in control are a mistake (although the message doesn’t prove this). He […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Ruttig: “Afghanistan-Abzug kommt zu früh und zu spät”

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutsche Welle (online), 6 August 2013 In an interview on the latest demand of the German Bundeswehr Association to keep German combat troops in Afghanistan after 2014, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig comments in an interview that this, first, has to be decided by the Afghans and, second, would not make sense as long as there is […]

AAN in the Media Read more

“You Must Have a Gun to Stay Alive”: Ghor, a province with three governments

Obaid Ali •

For many, Ghor is a blank spot on the map. Not much is reported from this large, mountainous province in the west of Afghanistan, but that does not mean it is a quiet place. Thousands of armed men led by criminals and “freelance” commanders, as well as a growing number of Taleban, roam Ghor’s districts. […]

War and Peace Read more

The Sane Heartland of Afghanistan: a visit to Ghor’s Lal wa Sarjangal district

Kate Clark •

Ghor is currently the subject of a series of dispatches by AAN’s Obaid Ali in which he describes the province’s multitudinous problems, not just threats from the Taleban, but also a host of other armed militias, their leaders entangled with the government, fighting each other and predating on the people. The one recurring bright spot […]

War and Peace Read more

U.S. looks to smartphones and satellites to monitor Afghan projects

admin •

Los Angeles Times, 4 August 2013 Remote control again: “As the U.S. military presence dwindles in Afghanistan, officials are finalizing a $200-million plan to use smartphones, GPS-enabled cameras and satellite imagery to monitor relief projects that will continue in areas deemed too remote or unsafe for Americans to visit” – “a plan some call risky”.

Recommended Reads Read more

Who’s Stealing Afghanistan’s Cultural Treasures?

admin •

National Geographic, 1 August 2013 “Afghanistan is rapidly losing its heritage on a vast scale”, Philippe Marquis, the director of DAFA, the French archaeological delegation in Afghanistan, is quoted in this report about the increased, organised looting of the country’s archaeological artefacts. “I would say that 99 percent of the archaeological sites in Afghanistan have […]

Recommended Reads Read more

President Rouhani’s Election: Potential impact on Iran’s relations with Afghanistan

Bruce Koepke •

On 3 August 2013, Hassan Rouhani, the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be officially endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and inaugurated by the Majlis, Iran’s parliament, the following day. AAN Guest Author Bruce Koepke explores the potential impact of his Presidency on Iran’s relations with Afghanistan, in the aftermath […]

Regional Relations Read more

Afghan Parties Jockey For Power Ahead Of Presidential Vote

AAN Team •

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1 September, 2013 In an article about the forthcoming elections in Afghanistan, Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network was quoted on the political alliances within Afghanistan; ‘[He] said there is little reason to believe the alliance will succeed in setting aside their differences and uniting under a common aim. […]

AAN in the Media Read more

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