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Rallies, Debate, Rain and Snow: The 2014 presidential election campaign starts

The Afghan presidential election campaign has kicked off – two months before polling day. Candidates are showing a range of attitudes, from launching big, brash public rallies to a rather desultory ‘we start tomorrow’ attitude. With no evident frontrunner, it seems the campaign will involve a real attempt to win over voters and will be […]

2 Feb 2014 Kate Clark • Political Landscape

The End of a Police Chief: Factional rivalries and pre-election power struggles in Kunduz

In the beginning, it looked like good news: had Kunduz police chief, Khalil Andarabi, been sacked because he had led Afghan Local Police (ALP) and militia units on a looting rampage against civilians? If this were the case, it would have meant that the bad track record of the Local Police and illegal militias was […]

31 Jan 2014 Lola Cecchinel • Political Landscape

Not a "Tailless Star”: an obituary for leading Afghan intellectual Muhammad Qasim Akhgar

On Tuesday night (28 January 2014), with the passing away of Muhammad Qasim Akhgar, Afghanistan lost one of its leading intellectuals. Ustad Akhgar died after a long illness, only 62 years old and he died as he had lived, in more than modest circumstances. An independent leftist, author and human rights activist, who maintained his […]

29 Jan 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Context and Culture

Flash from the Past: Long Live Consensus – a look back at the 2003 Constitutional Loya Jirga

It is ten years since Afghanistan got its new constitution. It had been debated over 22 days by the 502 delegates to a specially convened Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ). Hailed as one of the most progressive constitutions in the region, it was also called a “juggle of the Quran and democracy” (The New York Times). The […]

28 Jan 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Cards on the Table: Transparency and post-2014 Afghan aid

The joint Afghan-international strategy for 2015 to 2024, the so-called transition period, is based on the assumption that the security situation in the country is conducive to continuing large-scale development programmes. Recently released figures, however, indicate that the instability has not diminished, with a negative impact on access for those who implement, monitor and use […]

25 Jan 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Economy, Development, Environment

Communique of London Conference on Afghanistan

Communique of London Conference on Afghanistan

25 Jan 2014 admin • International documents on Afghanistan

Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-establishment of Permanent Government Institutions

Bonn Agreement

25 Jan 2014 admin • International documents on Afghanistan

27 January 2014, Berlin: AAN on Public Panel about the German Military in Afghanistan

On Monday, 27 January 2014, AAN’s Co-Director and Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig will be on a penal discussion in Berlin discussing the the German Protestant Church’s posiiton paper on ethical issues of the German military mission in Afghanistan that will be published on that day, titled: “Blessed Are the Pacificatory – the Mission in Afghanistan: Duties […]

24 Jan 2014 Thomas Ruttig • Events

The Future of Peace Talks: What would make a breakthrough possible?

Attempts last year to reconcile the Taleban ended where they had started a year before – stuck in stalemate. Two major developments this year, however, could affect the peace process. The departure of President Hamid Karzai and accession of a new leader in the spring provides an opportunity for rebooting the peace process. At best, […]

23 Jan 2014 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

Another Red Line Crossed: The Taverna attack and the killing of foreigners just because they were foreigners (amended)

The attack on the restaurant La Taverna du Liban, a favourite among Afghans and internationals in Kabul, has hit close to home for many working in and on Afghanistan. With 20 Afghans and foreigners killed while having dinner, it was one of the bloodiest and most ruthless strikes of the Taliban in years. This was an […]

18 Jan 2014 Christine Roehrs • Kate Clark • War and Peace

Obituary: The master of modern Pashto ghazal passes away

One of Afghanistan’s most important poets, Muhammad Seddiq Pasarly, has died, aged 85. Known popularly as the ‘Master of Pashto Ghazal’ (Pashto love poems), Pasarly also translated works by Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Persian poet and philosopher Omar Khayyam for Pashto readers. AAN’s Borhan Osman has written this obituary.   What is youth? It is […]

15 Jan 2014 Borhan Osman • Context and Culture

Little Leagues, Great Hopes: Afghan grassroots football kicks off

Afghanistan’s football premier league and its national team have received tremendous attention inside and outside the country, particularly after the national team’s victory in the 2013 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship. Children’s football, on the other hand, has gone largely unnoticed – although experts say that an Afghan team has the chance to even […]

13 Jan 2014 S Reza Kazemi • Economy, Development, Environment

Fear, Hope and Determination: Afghanistan and the 2014 Syndrome

Ever since in 2011 President Obama announced his timeline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the prospect of 2014 has been looming ominously over the country. And now we are here, at the beginning of this almost mythical year. There is nervousness and fear, but also pushback, with some Afghans believing that the […]

10 Jan 2014 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

A Mutual Interdependency? The BSA and why the US still wants it

Early in December 2013, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, made it clear that if the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between the governments of Afghanistan and the United States was not signed by the end of the 2013, there would be no more American troops in Afghanistan in 2015. […]

9 Jan 2014 Gary Owen • International Engagement

In memory of Dr Victor G. Korgun

When it comes to expertise on Afghanistan, not many look east. Those who did will have discovered Russian Viktor Korgun who, as we were sad to learn today, has passed away in Moscow. He was also respected in Afghanistan as shown by the invitation – as one of only few foreign experts – to a scientific conference […]

9 Jan 2014 Ekaterina Stepanova • Context and Culture

Innocent, guilty – useful? What’s behind the US-Afghan clash over 88 prisoners from Bagram

The Afghan government announced yesterday (7 January) that it would go ahead with the release of 88 Taleban prisoners from Bagram despite US objections. American politicians, including two senior US senators who visited Kabul in early January, have warned of further damage to US-Afghan bilateral relations if the prisoner release goes forward. The issue has […]

8 Jan 2014 AAN Guests • AAN Team • War and Peace

Armed, disarmed, rearmed: How Nahr-e Seraj in Helmand became one of the deadliest districts in Afghanistan

On a visit to Helmand in mid-December, UK Prime Minister David Cameron stated that when British troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of next year, they will have accomplished their main aim – leaving behind a basic level of security. But a new report by the Pentagon (1) tells a different story. On its […]

6 Jan 2014 Deedee Derksen • War and Peace

From Alexander the Great to Ahmad Shah Massud: A social history of the pakol

The flat, woollen, rolled-up hat called a pakol is nowadays one of the undisputed symbols of Afghanistan. But how such a humble garment, stemming from the remotest corners of the Hindu Kush mountains, made it to international appreciation on par with lavish silky chapans and majestic four-meter-long lungis, remains somewhat of a mystery. AAN’s Fabrizio […]

3 Jan 2014 Fabrizio Foschini • Context and Culture

A happy and peaceful new year!

Dear readers, here at AAN, we would like to wish you a happy new year. For Afghanistan, 2014 is a year of many expectations but also anxieties. May it be a year of successful transition, harmonious cooperation and real peace negotiations. We will be here to accompany you. The AAN team

1 Jan 2014 AAN Team • Context and Culture

Some Things Got Better – How Much Got Good? A review of 12 years of international intervention in Afghanistan

2013 marked the year in which the international community started to wrap up many of the initiatives to re-build Afghanistan – arguably the biggest international effort since the post-Word-War-II Marshal Plan. But where did this effort leave the country? For AAN’s year-end piece, co-director Thomas Ruttig has summarised what has happened, what has been achieved – […]

30 Dec 2013 Thomas Ruttig • International Engagement