Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: March 2014

Afghan economy at a crossroads

AAN •

Deutsche Welle, 26 March 2014 In another (English-language) election primer, the German radio station looks at the state of the Afghan economy and the "economic challenges ahead". It quotes AAN's Sari Kouvo: According to Sari Kouvo, an expert on human rights and co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), the living standards have considerably improved […]

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Why are Afghan candidates desperately wooing the Hazara vote?

AAN •

France 24, 26 March 2014 This article on the website of French international TV looks at the potential of Afghanistan's Hazaras as "a very desirable vote block for candidates" in the upcoming election but also pointing out how this — theoretical — block is split. AAN's Martine van Bijlert is also quoted: “They are the group with […]

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Afghanistan – miserable but not as bad as you think

AAN •

Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2014 The Telegraph's Rob Crilly found Borhan Osman's latest analysis for AAN convincing, saying "that the Taliban are far from threatening to bring down the state" and quoting that it is ultimately the legitimacy of the Kabul government that provides the best protection against the militants: To sum up, while the Taliban […]

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Afghan security fears, power shift rattle investors

AAN •

Asiatic Review, 27 March 2014 In this article about possible economic repercussions of the upcoming Afghan elections, AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini is quoted: Fabrizio Foschini, a political analyst at the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network, said it was hard to predict whether the presidential election will worsen the security situation. “If there is an impression among the […]

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Talking Afghan elections on Dutch radio

AAN •

Radio 1, VPRO Bureau Buitenland, 25 March 2014 Interview with Martine van Bijlert on the upcoming Afghan elections (last 15 minutes of the recording) – in Dutch.

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Can the Taleban outwrestle the government? An assessment of the insurgency’s military capability

Borhan Osman •

The Taleban are poised to bounce back and threaten the Afghan state once foreign troops withdraw – this is the kind of doomsday scenario one hears these days as foreign troops prepare to depart. Recent statistics have shown that 2013 was at least as violent as 2011, the previous record year for attacks and casualties. However, […]

War and Peace Read more

Media gains in jeopardy

AAN •

Deutsche Welle, 25 March 2014 In a primer for the Afghan elections, Deutsche Welle looks at the situation of the Afghan media. AAN's Sari Kouvo is quoted with cautioning against a too optimistic picture: "There is today a stronger sense of 'government control' and journalists fear that they may face reprisals if they criticize the government […]

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Policing Afghanistan’s internally displaced

AAN •

Express Tribune (Pakistan), 24 March 2014 AAN's occasional guest author Assunta Nicolini with an op-ed on Afghanistan that has "finally joined the ranks of countries developing and implementing national internal displacement strategies". She mentiones that it was "noted by the Afghan [sic] Analyst Network, [that] until now Afghan IDPs were not part of any specific international agency’s […]

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Wybory na zapleczu wycofujących się zagranicznych wojsk (not online)

AAN •

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, 24 March 2014 AAN's Christine Roehrs is quoted in this article of the Polish newspaper's Kabul correspondent in Kabul on the forthcoming elections:  Jakie problemy mogą się pojawić podczas wyborów? – Obserwatorzy powinni się skupić na dwóch tygodniach po 5 kwietnia, kiedy będzie się odbywać liczenie głosów. To wtedy pojawi się najwięk- […]

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2 April 2014, Berlin: AAN at Taz Discussion

Thomas Ruttig •

"Afghanistan nach Karsai und ISAF" is the title of a discussion round organised by Berlin-based daily Tageszeitung (taz), in cooperation with the Afghanistan Analysts Network. On 5 April, Afghanistan elects a new president. With that, the era of Hamed Karzai who is in power since the overthrow of the Taleban ends. What did he achieve, what he did not? […]

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Most PC members support 3 presidential runners

AAN •

Pajhwok Afghan News, 23 March 2014 Interesting survey by the Kabul-based news agency of 307 of the sitting 420 provincial council members on which presiedential candidate they support. There, Ghani (15.4%) was slightly the frontrunner, followed by Dr Abdullah (14.5%) and Rassul (12.1%). The three together scored 64.1 percent. The others followed way behind: Sayyaf (5.2%); Sherzai […]

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Afghanistan’s first spaceman returns home

AAN •

BBC, 23 March 2014 The story of Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan cosmonaut who became a deputy aviation minister under President Najibullah. He fled the country when that regime collapsed and turned into an accountant in Germany. Now, he has returned to his country of origin for the first time and found out that […]

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