Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: November 2018

Returns and Displacement Policy Paper

AAN •

BAAG, 30 November 2018 This policy paper by the British & Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG) looks at returns – enforced and voluntary – both from neighbouring countries Iran and Afghanistan as well as from Europe. Since 2015, 59% came from Iran, 41% from Pakistan, with the rest from EU countries including the UK (0.6%). […]

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Ghanis Friedensplan und Trumps America-First-Politik

Thomas Ruttig •

Neues Deutschland, 29 November 2018 Op-ed by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about Afghan president Ghani’s peace proposals introduced at the international Afghanistan conference in Geneva in the German daily (in German, behind a paywall). Full text here.

AAN in the Media Read more

Taleban Attacks on Khas Uruzgan, Jaghori and Malestan (II): A new and violent push into Hazara areas

Ali Yawar Adili • Martine van Bijlert •

The Taleban attacks on Hazara areas in Uruzgan and Ghazni were unprecedented in their reach and led to massive displacement. The attacks indicated a clear shift in the Taleban’s behaviour towards the Hazara areas, stimulating various hypotheses about their motives. In this second part of a series of two dispatches, AAN’s Ali Yawar Adili and […]

War and Peace Read more

Taleban Attacks on Khas Uruzgan, Jaghori and Malestan (I): A new and violent push into Hazara areas

Ali Yawar Adili • Martine van Bijlert •

In late October 2018, the Taleban pushed deeper into Hazara areas than they had ever done before. They first pursued Hakim Shujai, a notorious former Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander, into Malestan, then launched an assault on the district of Jaghori and thereafter attacked Malestan’s district centre, almost resulting in its collapse. The attacks were […]

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Afghanistankonferenz: Kleine Schritte zu Demokratie und Frieden

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutschlandfunk, 27 November 2018 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted in this article about the Geneva Afghanistan conference by the German public broadcaster (radio): Thomas Ruttig, der Co-Direktor der Nichtregierungsorganisation Afghanistan Analysts Network, sieht in dieser Situation sogar den Weg des Landes zur Demokratie gefährdet: „Wir haben ja gerade Parlamentswahlen hinter uns und wir haben immer […]

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Ydmyget USA forhandler fred med fanger fra Guantanamo

Thomas Ruttig •

Politiken, 26 November 2018 The Danish daily quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this article about US-Taleban talks: Den tyske ekspert Thomas Ruttig fra netværket Afghan [sic] Analysts Network er netop kommet hjem fra Afghanistan, hvor bekymringerne over USAs forhandlinger med Taleban er stigende. »Alle i Kabul frygter, at de kommer til at stå uden amerikanske […]

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The Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan: An agenda for peace and development?

AAN Team •

The Afghan Government and United Nations will co-host the Geneva ministerial conference on 28 November 2018. This is the 13th high-level international conference on Afghanistan since 2001. The focus of the conference will be peace efforts and development, but it will also be an opportunity to assess the Afghan government’s reform efforts and reconfirm commitments made […]

International Engagement Read more

Eldorado am Hindukusch

Thomas Ruttig •

Zur Sache BW, 23 November 2018 Extensive article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the political economy   of the Afghan war: who profits from the war because it is ongoing and is not interested – despite everything what is said publicly –that it stops  (in German). Here a PDF version: 20181100JS-ZURSACHE-Afgh’s Kriegsgewinnler GEDRUCKT

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A Drop from Peak Opium Cultivation: The 2018 Afghanistan survey

Jelena Bjelica •

The Afghanistan Opium Survey 2018 released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows decrease of a fifth in the countrywide cultivation of opium compared to the previous years. The 263,000 hectares under the cultivation in Afghanistan this year was still the second largest score for Afghanistan since the UNODC began […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The 2018 Election Observed (5) in Nuristan: Disfranchisement and lack of data

Jelena Bjelica • Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

Organising elections in Nuristan, one of the most remote, under-served and unknown provinces, presents a severe challenge. Most villages are far from their nearest district centre and all of the districts are under some degree of Taleban control or influence. In two districts – Mandol and Du-Ab – people were fully deprived of their right […]

Political Landscape Read more

Afghan minerals in the crosshairs of Blackwater’s Erik Prince

AAN •

TRT World, 14 November 2018 The founder of the notorious, and now defunct, Blackwater, has been making headlines for trying to privatise the Afghan war. What has gone unreported are his plans as “Trump’s advisor” to extract the country’s immensely rich mineral wealth. This article looks at his activities in Afghanistan. Although his spokesman said that […]

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In Afghan vote, an optimistic, energetic young guard targeted the old

Thomas Ruttig •

Christian Science Monitor, 14 November 2018 Against the overly optimistic headline, some quotes by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig trying to put a more realistic touch upon this part of the Afghan election-related media hype about the ‘youth wave’: Yet even with the emergence of a new generation committed to more democratic norms, change won’t be easy, […]

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