Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Jelena Bjelica

The RTA building in Kabul (Photo Source: Report by DSWCI)

“No Microphone for the President”: Can Radio Television Afghanistan still become a public service broadcaster?

Jelena Bjelica •

Turning government-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) into a public service broadcaster, a symbol of a democratic state, has been on the agenda of both donors and the Afghan government since 2002. However, only small, cosmetic changes have so far been made. As a result, many argue that this goal is no longer realistic. The overstaffed, […]

Context and Culture Read more

AAN’s Obaid Ali on the security in Kunduz – February, 2016

Obaid Ali •

AAN’s assistant country director Obaid Ali discusses security in Kunduz and insurgency in the north.  

Podcasts Read more

Afghanistan – March 2016 Monthly Forecast

Martine van Bijlert •

Security Council Report, 29 February 2016 UN Security Council forecast cites Martine van Bijlert’s recent dispatch “The IEC Announces 2016 Election Date—but what about electoral reform?” as useful additional resource.

AAN in the Media Read more

External Publication: Afghanistan’s Post-Liberal Peace: between external intervention and local efforts

Martine van Bijlert •

In: “​ Post-Liberal Peace Transitions Between Peace Formation and State Formation”​, Oliver P. Richmond, Sandra Pogodda (eds), Edinburgh University Press Publication date: January 2016

External publications Read more
Sample of E-Tazkera (Source: Pajhwok)

The Troubled History of the E-tazkera (Part 2): Technical stumbling blocks

Jelena Bjelica • Martine van Bijlert •

The introduction of electronic ID cards – or e-tazkera – in Afghanistan remains haunted by delays, obstacles and poor planning. Although CEO Dr Abdullah approved the e-tazkera pilot phase on 3 August 2015, the process has yet to begin. Since then, President Ghani has questioned the very feasibility of this oft-delayed project, while main donors […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more
Samples of methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, like ecstasy and MDMA, exhibited in the display cabinet of state-of-the-art CNPA forensics lab in Kabul, Afghanistan (Photo by Jelena Bjelica 2015)

Afghanistan Breaking Bad: Crystal meth, a new drug on the market

Jelena Bjelica •

The first methamphetamine seizure in Afghanistan was recorded in 2008, a minor capture of four grams in Helmand province. Now, seven years later, some 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, popularly known as ‘crystal meth’, were seized in the first ten months of 2015, in 14 out of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. The Ministry of Counter Narcotics warned […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
Poppy field in Helmand. Photo: AAN Staff

“One Year’s Result is Not a Trend”: the 2015 opium cultivation decrease

Jelena Bjelica •

The decline (by almost a fifth) in the area of land in Afghanistan planted with opium poppy in 2015 came as a surprise to many. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had been on the rise since 2010, when an opium poppy blight halved opium production and triggered a subsequent hike in opium prices. However, the decline […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Homeless and Unwanted: How Kabul’s drug users are driven from place to place

Jelena Bjelica • Qayoom Suroush •

The 2015 summer campaign to push drug users out from under the bridge in Pol-e Sokhta and close the ‘addict town’ there has turned into a public spectacle with groups of drug addicts being herded around by the police. Complaints by the surrounding community had forced the police to act, resulting in the partial dispersal of […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

CEO, Afghanistan! Is this a ‘real country or just acting like one’?

Martine van Bijlert •

Rashmee.com, 22 September 2014 Blogger quotes a tweet by AAN’s Martine van Bijlert in response to the signing of the national unity government deal: “Unsurprisingly, Martine van Bijlert @mvbijlert, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, tweeted despairingly (see screenshot) soon after the deal was signed: “And now there is a result, the country will need […]

AAN in the Media Read more

In Afghan election dispute, enter the DC lobbyists

Martine van Bijlert •

Christian Science Monitor, 14 August 2014 Article on the drawn-out Afghan elections extensively quotes from a recent AAN dispatch by Martine van Bijlert: … as with the first deal, it didn’t take long for the wheels to come off. Martine Van Biljert [sic], a long-time resident of Kabul and researcher of Afghan politics, saw it coming. She […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Elections 2014 (19): Final results’ timeline trumps transparency

Martine van Bijlert •

This morning, on 15 May 2014, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the final results of the first round of the presidential elections. Both frontrunners have since then publicly accepted the results, while still claiming that in a fair process they would have done better, and are readying themselves for the second round vote that […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (13): The IEC and IECC’s reluctance to be transparent

Martine van Bijlert •

An overriding theme over the past two weeks has been the reluctance of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) to publicly release detailed information as to what is going on with the vote count. Both bodies are now catching up, but only reluctantly so, and the first round of the […]

Political Landscape Read more

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