Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: November 2015

Caption: Convicted Kabul Bank shareholder Khalil Ferozi is treated as a guest of honor during the 4 November 2014 stone-laying ceremony for Kabul's Smart City, where he signs an MoU with the ministry of urban development. Source: ministry of urban development.

The Afghan Government and th­e ‘Smart City’ Debacle: Who out-smarted whom?

Martine van Bijlert •

The Afghan government, much to its chagrin, has found itself embroiled in a controversy that has direct links to the 2010 Kabul Bank scandal. On 4 November 2015, a small group of high-level government officials presided over the stone-laying ceremony of a new and ambitious township called Smart City. What was meant as a good […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Deutsche Flüchtlingspolitik in Afghanistan: „Haben Sie sich das gut überlegt?“

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 19 November 2015 Article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in the Berlin-based daily, looking at the German campaign in Afghanistan to warn potential refugees from travelling to Europe.

AAN in the Media Read more

An ISIS School Teaches Jihad To Children At Age 3

AAN •

NPR, 19 November 2015 In an article introducing the US radio station’s documentary film about Daesh in Afghanistan, AAN’s Borhan Osman and his analysis about the group is quoted:  

AAN in the Media Read more
Poppy field in Helmand. Photo: AAN Staff

“One Year’s Result is Not a Trend”: the 2015 opium cultivation decrease

Jelena Bjelica •

The decline (by almost a fifth) in the area of land in Afghanistan planted with opium poppy in 2015 came as a surprise to many. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had been on the rise since 2010, when an opium poppy blight halved opium production and triggered a subsequent hike in opium prices. However, the decline […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Germany launches campaign to deter Afghan refugees

Thomas Ruttig •

Stars and Stripes, 16 November 2015 In this article about the German government’s campaign to discourage would-be Afghan migrants from making the sometimes perilous journey to Europe, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted: Germany’s public relations campaign in Afghanistan is part of a broader strategy to reduce the number of incoming refugees, said German researcher Thomas Ruttig, […]

AAN in the Media Read more
Map: Major Ethnic Groups of Pakistan in 1980, Source: Wikipedia

The Crowded-Out Conflict: Pakistan’s Balochistan in its fifth round of insurgency

Ann Wilkens •

In the international discussion on Pakistan´s many problems, the low-level conflict in its Balochistan province does not get much attention. The issue of nuclear arms, for instance, is considered more immediately frightening; Balochistan is just the area where these arms are tested. But the province is also the arena for a long-standing, complex and multi-faceted […]

Regional Relations Read more

Quarter of a Century of War in Pictures: In conversation with Robert Nickelsberg – October, 2015

AAN Guests •

In conversation with Time magazine contract photographer Robert Nickelsberg, who has been visiting the Afghanistan since 1988, catching moments on film that are variously historic, unsettling and tender.

Podcasts Read more

“90% real” – The rise and fall of a rentier economy: Stories from Kandahar

AAN •

AREU, November 2015 In AREU’s Working Paper 38, authors Giulia Minoia and Adam Pain look into the ups and downs of Kandahar city’’s economy since 2001-. The paper is based on four interesting case studies, taking up the pre-war tradition of ‘bazaar structure studies’: focused on three sub-sectors of the informal street vendor economy: the selling of […]

Recommended Reads Read more
At Europe's edge: exhausted refugees in a Serbian field. Photo: Refugee Aid Serbia.

An “Afghan Exodus” (1): Facts, figures, trends

Thomas Ruttig •

The on-going “exodus” of Afghans – now the second largest group entering the EU – has contributed to the increasing refugee numbers across Europe. This, in turn, has led to heated debates and an increased political polarisation between pro- and anti-refugee movements and parties. As governments and citizens struggle to handle the influx of refugees, […]

Migration Read more

Die Wut der Bevölkerung wächst

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 13 November 2015 Thomas Ruttig’s article in the Berlin daily about the Kabul demonstrations commemorating the seven Hazaras killed by a Talban dissident group and protesting what id perceived of the government’s lack on attention for the security of Hazaras in Ghazni province.

AAN in the Media Read more
The large Zabul Seven protests in Kabul, 11 November 2015. Photo: Pajhwok.

The ‘Zabul Seven’ Protests: Who speaks for the victims?

Martine van Bijlert •

On 11 November 2015, Kabul witnessed probably one of the largest demonstrations in recent history. The trigger was the slaughter of seven Hazara travellers who had been taken hostage in Zabul province about a month ago. The demonstration, which continued well into the night, became an amalgam of emotions and agendas: grief and horror over […]

War and Peace Read more

MSF Investigation: US hospital strike looking more like a war crime

Kate Clark •

A preliminary investigation by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) into the United States airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz on 3 October, which killed at least 30 people, has raised some serious questions. Fresh evidence suggests statements made by US officials in the first few days after the attack were false. It also makes clear how […]

War and Peace Read more

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