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No Country for Good Policemen?

At the NATO summit in Chicago, everybody’s attention seems to be focused on the budget for the defence of Afghanistan and how much donors will spend after 2014, in other words on the quantity of security forces that the country will be able to field. But what about their quality? A new, excellent report on […]

21 May 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Rights and Freedoms

Transition and Peace Talks: Optimism and Confidence in Herat?

Transition of security and the possibility of a process of peace talks with the Taleban are a concern to most Afghans. According to reports, house prices are falling, investors are getting more careful and more and more people are contemplating to leave the country because of concerns that the situation may get worse. However, the […]

19 May 2012 Hamisha Bahar • Economy, Development, Environment

Guest blog: The question of succession

Along with the withdrawal of foreign troops, a crucial political transition is on the cards for Afghanistan in 2014. Hamid Karzai nears the end of his second term, the only two he is constitutionally allowed to serve. While rumours of Karzai playing with the constitution to allow himself a third term were rife months ago, […]

18 May 2012 Mujib Mashal • Political Landscape

Guest Blog: Inequality in Equality: Linguistic Convergence between Dari and Pashto

Language matters. The issue of how to ‘correctly’ name institutions is just one linguistic issue which has become highly politicised in post-Taleban Afghanistan. AAN guest blogger Lutz Rzehak(*) looks at these issues from the point of view of a linguist who speaks three of Afghanistan’s languages and has carried out research there for several decades. […]

17 May 2012 Lutz Rzehak • Context and Culture

Guest Blog: How to name Universities or: Any Linguistic Problem in Afghanistan?

Language matters. The issue of what the ‘correct’ naming of an institution is, is just one of the linguistic debates that have become highly politicised in post-Taleban Afghanistan. Our guest blogger, Lutz Rzehak(*), looks at these issues from the point of view of a linguist who speaks three of Afghanistan’s languages and has carried out […]

17 May 2012 Lutz Rzehak • Context and Culture

Transition Phase Three: A Big Leap Forward

A new phase of the security transition, the third, has been announced. Every Afghan province is now going to be involved, at least partly, in the transfer of security from ISAF troops to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). This is the case even in areas where foreign troops are no longer present or where […]

16 May 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

Beating a Retreat: Prospects for the Transition Process in Afghanistan

As NATO member states gather for their summit in Chicago this coming weekend to discuss the security transition in Afghanistan and the prospect for continued engagement, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) has released a new report exploring the complexities surrounding NATO’s current transition strategy. In the report ‘Beating a Retreat; Prospects for the Transition Process in […]

16 May 2012 Barbara Stapleton • Special Reports

27 and 30 June 2012, Berlin: Two Afghanistan podiums with AAN

AAN’s Co-Director Thomas Ruttig will participate in two podiums on Afghanistan in Berlin this week, organised by the Berlin he Nahost-Forum and by the Afghanistan Committee for Peace, Reconstruction and Culture. On Wednesday, 27 June 2012, he will talk about ‘Afghanistan: The current situation and prospect for the future’ (in German) at the invitation of […]

15 May 2012 AAN • admin • Events

Afghanistan’s Fluctuating Poppy Production: More Than a Poverty Problem

Afghanistan’s area of poppy cultivation has increased by 7 per cent compared to the last year and more provinces cultivate poppy than then. This is the gist of annual opium survey for the country for 2012. There are no predictions about how many (thousands of) tons this will be. And the publishers – the UN […]

14 May 2012 Doris Buddenberg • Economy, Development, Environment

Another Hit at the High Peace Council: Arsala Rahmani Killed (amended)

One of the leading reconciled Taleban, Arsala Rahmani, who was also a senator and, until last month, acting head of the High Peace Council, has been shot dead in Kabul. On 3 May, the Taleban declared they would be targeting High Peace Council members in their ‘Spring Offensive’, but a spokesman has said they did […]

13 May 2012 Kate Clark • Political Landscape