Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: August 2017

In Afghanistan, Reform Can’t Come Fast Enough

Thomas Ruttig •

Foreign Policy, 16 August 2017 A very readable pre-Trump speech insight, by former US ambassador Ron Neumann, into problems that have now fallen behind the military-first, anti-terrorism strategy – reform, institutions, anti-corruption – expressing the fear that upcoming elections and related alliance-building might stop whatever reform is ongoing.

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An Afghan ensemble performing at the Lycee Istiqlal in Kabul on February 23, 2011. Photo: Fabrizio Foschini

War and Exile Through the Musicians’ Eye: Professor John Baily’s account of four decades of Afghan music (book review)

Fabrizio Foschini •

 “Music is essential for the very survival of man’s humanity.” In the opening lines of his book ‘War, Exile and the Music of Afghanistan’, John Baily motivates his research with this quote from fellow ethnomusicologist John Blacking. For the author, who spent more than four decades researching and performing the music of Afghanistan alongside Afghan […]

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Freiwillige und erzwungene Rückkehr nach Afghanistan 2016/17: Trends, Zahlen, Erfahrungen

Thomas Ruttig •

Das Blättchen 17/2017 (14 Aug 2017) An updated German translation of Jelena Bjelica and Thomas Ruttig’s AAN dispatch an fact, figures and trends of – voluntary and involuntary – returns to Afghanistan in the German web-based political, cultural and economic biweekly. Not online. a PDF of the article here: 20170814Blättchen-Bjelica & Ruttig Rückkehr nach AFG […]

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Sicheres Herkunftsland Afghanistan: Krasse Fehleinschätzungen

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 14 August 2017 Op-ed by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the German foreign office’s latest security assessment for Afghanistan in the Berlin-based daily (in German). He points out that the conclusion – “security situation for Afghan civilians has not changed substantially” since end of ISAF mission – contradicts latest UN Spacial Rep report to the […]

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Abschieben in einen Krisenstaat: Warum ist Berlin bei Afghanistan so rigoros?

Thomas Ruttig •

n-tv, 11 August 2017 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig with some disagreeing quotes about the recent new evaluation of the Afghan security situation of the German foreign office which surprisingly states that the threat for Afghan civilians was comparatively “low.” On the website of German private n-tv (in German).

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AAN’s Ehsan Qaane on International Criminal Court’s investigation in Afghanistan – August 2017

Ehsan Qaane •

AAN’s Ehsan Qaane answered important questions regarding International Criminal Court’s intervention in Afghanistan.

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L’Amérique sans stratégie pour sortir du bourbier afghan

Thomas Ruttig •

Tribune de Genève, 11 August 2017 Version of the Le Figaro article of 18 August with quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, but here without paywall. «Le retrait du gros des troupes de l’OTAN en décembre 2014 a donné plus de marge de manœuvre aux talibans», note Thomas Ruttig, codirecteur de l’Afghanistan Analysts Network, un centre […]

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Gerade befreite Stadt in Ostafghanistan wieder in Händen der Taliban

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa/Amerika-Woche, 11 August 2017 The German news agency quotes from AAN’s Janikhel dispatch, mainly background on the vulnerability of the government’s grip on the area, in its report on the district centre falling to the Taleban again (in German).

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Afghanistan : les talibans gagnent du terrain

Thomas Ruttig •

Le Figaro, 11 August 2017 Quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in a leading French daily about Taleban territorial gains and the extension of their room to manoeuvre after the end of the ISADF mission in 2014 (in French, with paywall).

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The Assault in Sayad: Did Taleban and Daesh really collaborate?

Obaid Ali •

Armed militants have overrun Afghan Local Police (ALP) and a public uprising unit’s posts in the Mirza Olang village of Sayad district in Sar-e Pul province on 6 August 2017. Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed. There is another dimension, however, that created widespread international media reporting about the incident: claims by local officials that […]

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Blauäugig in Kundus

Thomas Ruttig •

Süddeutsche Zeitung, 9 August 2017 Op-ed by Thomas Ruttig, with a balance of the German military engagement in Kunduz, in the Munich-based daily, one of the leading ones in Germany. It looks at the strong and, as it seems, irreversible Taleban province in the region and comes to the conclusion: “military mission not accomplished.” Presenting the […]

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At the End of a Long Curve: The fall of Janikhel

Thomas Ruttig • Fazl Rahman Muzhary •

The temporary capture of Janikhel district centre by Taleban forces in late July 2017 stands out in the relatively static, mountainous and geographically and tribally fractured region of eastern Paktia and Khost. There, most district centres continue to be in government hands, while many areas outside of them are more or less under Taleban control. […]

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