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From Point Zero to ‘New Warmth’: Russian-Afghan relations since 1989

After the Soviet occupation years, Afghan-Russian relations were on absolute zero. But post-Soviet Russia has worked carefully on improving the situation step by step. This strategy is based on an about-face under Yeltsin: dropping Najibullah and building a relationship with the mujahedin, beginning in 1992. In recent years, mounting Afghan-US and Russian-US tensions have made […]

8 Aug 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Regional Relations

AAN’s Sari Kouvo at the joint conference by Women for Women International and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – January 2014

The conference brought together evidence and experience from leading financial institutions, NGOs, entrepreneurs, researchers and civil society to explore the impact of ‘laws in the books’ and ‘laws in action’ on the economic opportunities and empowerment of women, for example barriers in access to finance.

6 Aug 2014 Sari Kouvo • Podcasts

Under the Bridge: The drug addicts’ scene in Kabul

Addiction to drugs is an often underestimated phenomenon in Afghanistan. Thousands of people become addicted to drugs every year in a country that is the world’s major producer of opiates, although many of them developed the habit while living abroad as refugees. In Kabul, they concentrate in western areas of the city, living in veritable […]

5 Aug 2014 Qayoom Suroush • Economy, Development, Environment

Under the Cloak of History: The Kherqa-ye Sharif from Faizabad to Kandahar

These are hard times for holy shrines in many Muslim countries. Often targeted by fundamentalist militants who reject practices of popular religious devotion as un-Islamic, many ancient and famous ziarats have been destroyed or damaged. The last on the list seems to have been the tomb of Yunus (Jonah) near Mosul, Iraq, reportedly blown up […]

30 Jul 2014 Bette Dam • Fabrizio Foschini • Context and Culture

Happy Eid al Fitr!

While many Afghans seem tired of the long electoral process, and despite the concerns and uncertainties felt by the Afghan people, we hope that the coming Eid Al Fitr can bring happy days to all. The Afghanistan Analysts Network wishes a very happy and peaceful Eid Al Fitr to all Muslims, and particularly to the […]

28 Jul 2014 AAN Team • Context and Culture

Afghanistan in World War I (1): Afghans in the Kaiser’s jihad

 A hundred years ago, on 28 July 1914, the First World War started when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia after a group of young pro-independence Serbian terrorists shot dead the Austro-Hungarian crown prince in Sarajevo one month earlier. Soon, millions were dying on the battlefields across four continents in what was termed the “first global […]

27 Jul 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Context and Culture

2014 Elections (42): Audit stopped, re-started, UN intervenes

There have been days of futile negotiations between the technical teams of the two presidential election candidates over the nature of the ‘invalidation’ criteria – the rules for deciding what to do with votes deemed suspicious in the audit of the 14 June second round of the presidential vote. Now, the United Nations has stepped in […]

25 Jul 2014 Kate Clark • Qayoom Suroush • Political Landscape

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: How ISAF infighting helped doom Sangin to its ongoing violence

Sangin district in Helmand has again, this year, seen heavy fighting, this time between the Afghan National Security Forces and the Taleban. With dozens killed and thousands displaced following an insurgent assault involving hundreds of fighters, the Taleban leadership is once again showing how much it values this strategic crossroads and poppy-producing hub. Guest author […]

23 Jul 2014 Julius Cavendish • War and Peace

Memorials and Patrons: How northern Afghan elites try to own history

Elites in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh province and most important city in the north, have, in recent years, supported the building of new memorials and re-naming of the city’s streets and intersections. They are also sponsoring intellectuals and their literary and artistic output. These are politically driven cultural projects, attempts by the leading […]

21 Jul 2014 S Reza Kazemi • Context and Culture

Elections 2014 (41): Audit started, rules as yet unclear

The audit of all of the votes cast in Afghanistan’s presidential election run-off has begun at the headquarters of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on the outskirts of Kabul on 17 July. Thirty teams of IEC staff (to be raised eventually to one hundred) checked just one ballot box each, overseen by candidates’ agents, observers […]

17 Jul 2014 Kate Clark • Qayoom Suroush • Political Landscape