Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Talks with the Taleban, Again: This time for real?

Thomas Ruttig •

Over the past weeks, Kabul buzzed with rumours that talks with the Taleban would begin soon, specifically, in the first week of March. That particular week is now past and nothing has happened. But this does not mean that rumours were completely false or that no movement is being made towards new talks with the […]

War and Peace Read more

The Black Flag South Of The Amu-Darya

Thomas Ruttig •

RFE/RL, 17 March 2015 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig took part in a radio panel discussing IS sightings in Afghanistan, which the organiser – RFE/RL – introduces as following: “The black flag of the Islamic State (IS) militant group has reportedly been raised in areas of northern Afghanistan, just south of the border with Central Asia.” Thomas […]

AAN in the Media Read more

How Obama handed Afghanistan a prisoner dilemma

AAN •

al-Jazeera, 16 March 2015 In the run-up to Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani’s visits to the US next week, this article looks at the situation of non-Afghan prisoners handed over by the US to Afghanistan with the end of the ISAF mission. AAN’s Kare Clark is quoted: But inheriting Parwan prisoners has put the Afghan government in a […]

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De lange oorlog in Afghanistan is nog niet voorbij

Thomas Ruttig •

MO, 16 March 2015 This article of the Belgian website’s editor-in-chief quotes extensively from two AAN sources, by Thomas Ruttig and Philipp Münch: “Eind 2013 schreef de Duitse onderzoeker Thomas Ruttig: ‘Volgens officiële Afghaanse bronnen staan slechts 5 van de 416 districtcentra onder permanente controle van de taliban, maar in vele andere reikt de greep […]

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19 March 2015, Basle: OPIUM – an exhibition

Thomas Ruttig •

OPIUM – that’s the title of an exhibition that opens on 15 March 2015 in the Museum der Kulturen Basel (MKB; Basle Museum of Cultures) in Switzerland. It is curated by Doris Buddenberg, former country director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kabul and member of the Advisory Board of the Afghanistan […]

Events Read more

Hope is mingled with guilt as I bid farewell to my Kabul home

AAN •

The Guardian, 14 March 2015 Leaving Guardian Kabul correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison’s sobering valedictory article. She links to the AAN dispatch on the jailing of  a well-known Afghan photographer in “a murky years-old case.”

AAN in the Media Read more

Resolutie 1325 is een gebroken belofte aan vrouwen wereldwijd

AAN •

oneworld.nl, 10 March 2015 The Dutch humanitarian website, in an article on the UN-SC resolution 1325 (on women and peace and security and the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction) quotes AAN researcher Borhan Osman, from his recent presentation in […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Das Erbe der Straflosigkeit: Menschenrechte in Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 5 March 2015 Guest article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the recent HRW report on the generation of human rights violators who – in contrast to the warlords of the 1990s and the communist generals of the 1980s – act in connivance with the West. He also cites examples from the report, including […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Political-Cultural Impediments to Reform in Afghanistan

AAN •

Foreign Policy, 5 March 2015 Excellently balanced and almost dialectical but also condensed explainer by Marvin G. Weinbaum and Meena Yousufzy why reform pace under the Ghani-Abdullah team is so slow and what stands in its way in Afghanistan’s political culture: “Traditional and tribal norms, as well as the nation’s Islamic heritage, contribute significantly to Afghanistan’s […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Impunity and Silence: The meagre reaction to the latest HRW report

Thomas Ruttig •

Human rights abuses in Afghanistan no longer make big waves outside the really concerned circles. Yesterday (on 3 March 2015), Human Rights Watch released a hard-hitting piece of meticulous research looking at the ease with which gross human rights violations and war crimes are still committed by the powerful in Afghanistan: “Today We Shall All […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Horse-trading also exists in developed countries

AAN •

The News, 4 March 2015 The Pakistani daily tells us nothing new: political horse-trading also exists in developed countries. Strange, though, that the article ends with a para about Afghanistan – but at least, it quotes AAN on how voters are mobilised in Afghanistan: “The “Reuters” had also quoted a researcher at the “Afghanistan Analyst […]

AAN in the Media Read more

“Today We Shall All Die”: Afghanistan’s Strongmen and the Legacy of Impunity

AAN •

Human Rights Watch, 3 March 2015 Important report about the continuation of impunity for killings, rape, torture – but this time under the eyes of the “international community”. From the summary: More than 13 years after the overthrow of the Taliban government, Afghans continue to suffer serious human rights abuses by government and military officials […]

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