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7 October 2010: NAF collection on Afghanistan and Pakistan

With the ninth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Afghanistan upon us, the New America Foundation’s Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative has relased a series of research papers describing the insurgencies in Pakistan’s tribal regions and in Afghanistan. These collections, called “The Battle for Pakistan” and “The Battle for Afghanistan,” represent some of the most […]

7 Oct 2010 AAN • admin • Events

Talk about Talks Again (updated)

‘Bazaar du-bara garm shud’ – the market has become hot again. That’s how many Afghans reacted to the breaking news of ‘high-level talks’ between Taleban leaders and the Kabul government (and possibly some US actors) as well as about the not-so-secret-anymore talks in the Kabul Serena. But look at the small print: The talks were […]

7 Oct 2010 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

2010 Elections 23: The Wardak election in AP3’s shadow

A close look at the electoral result sheets published online by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) allows observers to get an idea of how elections went countrywide. The results for Wardak, where the number of polling centres (PC) this year was higher than during the past elections, reveal some problematic trends, raising the question whether […]

6 Oct 2010 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 22: IEC delays preliminary final result

Not surprisingly, the Afghan Independent Election Commission has given the ECC a bit more time to work on the almost 4,000 complaints that have come in until now. But there are concerns about the ability of the ECC to work on them, given the very low speed with which it gives out precise information – […]

5 Oct 2010 Fabrizio Foschini • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 21: A Tale of Two Parliaments

Afghanistan sometimes really can be paradoxical. Its President, often (and wrongly) described as the ‘Mayor of Kabul’ has a grip on the administration country-wide, reshuffling ministers, governors and police chiefs at will, but his administration does not administrate – or only when bribes are paid. Parts of the opposition occupy government posts. And its parliament […]

3 Oct 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 20: What if the Hazaras win in Uruzgan? (updated)

Afghanistan’s parliamentary election, as is by now well-known, is seriously pulled out of balance by fraud, insecurity and an unusual variation of the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV), an electoral system that is prone to erratic outcomes. This has been played out rather illustratively in Uruzgan, where a small and secure corner of the province may […]

2 Oct 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 19: Two cases of electoral violence

Afghanistan’s elections have been surrounded by a swirl of politicking and tricking, of wrangling and pressuring, of outcry and resignation, of threats and promises, and of outbursts of violence. They show how old habits die hard and how new prospects of power inspire violent behaviour – as Jawed Kohestani, the leader of the Freedom and […]

2 Oct 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

4/5 October: TLO presents Uruzgan report

Our partner organisation The Liaison Office (TLO) in Kabul has presented its latest report in the Netherlands’ parliament and in the Dutch Embassy in Kabul: ‘The Dutch engagement in Uruzgan’ – an analysis of the four-year Dutch civil-military engagement in this southern Afghan province that ended on 1 August this year. The publication of the […]

1 Oct 2010 AAN • admin • Events

2010 Elections 18: A look at the first Khost ballot sheets (updated)

Since a few days, the IEC posts – as promised in its pre-election transparency offensive – copies of the ‘result and tally sheets’ from the polling stations (PSt, vulgo: the boxes) on its website. This will make it difficult to tamper with the content of the boxes, i.e. stuff additional ballots into them post festum, […]

1 Oct 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Bird Watch 2: Birds on the Wire

Earlier this afternoon shortly before grey clouds rising over Paghman let the sun disappear and brought a short drizzle, three bottle-green parakeets darted across the airspace over our AAN garden, between the high pine trees, the grapevines (that did not carry this year) and the neighbouring house’s wall on which his pigeons gather. This reminded […]

1 Oct 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Context and Culture