Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

”Afghanistans beroende av utländskt bistånd har snarare blivit större än mindre.”

Thomas Ruttig •

Sydsvenskan Dagbladet, 13 October 2013 Guest article (translated by Anders Fänge) by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in the Malmö-based daily on the Afghan elections, its outcome and the consequences of the many ongoing crises in the country. With announcements of Thomas’s two presentations in Southern Sweden on 14 and 15 October (Malmö and Lund). The headline […]

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The Start into the Better Governance Marathon: Ghani’s first days

Thomas Ruttig •

New president Ashraf Ghani has proven himself a man intent on not losing time – after so much of it had been lost in post-electoral counting, auditing and political wrangling since April 2014. As opposed to the habits of the Karzai era, the Afghan government did not go into hibernation over the recent Eid-e Qurban […]

Political Landscape Read more

Die Reichtümer Afghanistans (print only)

Thomas Ruttig •

Le Monde diplomatique, 10 October 2014 Article by Thomas Ruttig (with contributions and a photo by Obaid Ali) in the October issue of the international newspaper, discussing the chances and risks of the exploitation of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in conditions of war and international pressure to invest much of the income into the security sector. […]

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US intensifies Afghan airstrikes as drawdown nears

AAN •

Boston Globe, 8 October 2014 “According to the latest Pentagon statistics, US combat aircraft dropped more bombs on Taliban and other militant targets in August than it had in any single month in two years — and nearly triple the monthly average since January. …  The stepped-up campaign was viewed by some analysts as an […]

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5 men executed in gang-rape case that outraged Afghans

AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 8 October 2014 Over the objections of human rights groups, the Afghan government on Wednesday executed five men convicted in the gang rape of four women, an incident that caused widespread outrage from the Afghan public. AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted in the article on the nature of the crime and the […]

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Warlords, Religious Leaders, Insurgents: Three external publications

Thomas Ruttig •

  For the London-based Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Thomas Ruttig analysed the relationship between Islamic religion and politics in Afghanistan through the phases of internal conflict over modernisation and armed conflict, starting with the 1970s. He starts with the analysis that Afghan society, before the Soviet occupation, was religiously conservative, with liberal urban enclaves and […]

External publications Read more

Finding a way to stop child recruitment in Afghanistan

AAN •

Relief Web/Unicef, 7 October 2014 A recently released United Nations Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict highlights issues of serious concern regarding early recruitment of children by all parties to the conflict. The report states that, in 2013, at least 97 boys – some as young as 8 years old – were recruited into […]

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"Resolute Support" follows "Help and Cooperation"; the new mission will need a new logo. Photo: AAN

Three Birds with One Stone: Signing the BSA and NATO SOFA to project reliability

Kate Clark • Thomas Ruttig •

By signing long-delayed security agreements with the US and NATO on the second day of its existence (30 September 2014), the new Afghan leadership has hit at least three birds with one stone. It has projected an image of itself as reliable to Afghans and to its international partners, and it has secured an important […]

International Engagement Read more

Kundus – ein Jahr nach dem Bundeswehr-Abzug

Thomas Ruttig •

ZDF (heute.de), 5 October 2014 In a report on its website, the prime time news of Germany’s second public TV broadcaster ZDF report on the situation in Kunduz, one year after the Bundeswehr withdrawal from the province. It quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: “Die Lage ist unübersichtlich. Die Provinz Kundus gehört zu den problematischsten Regionen im […]

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Cabinet names Kabul Airport after Karzai

AAN •

Pajhwok News Agency, 3 October 2014 In its maiden meeting under President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai’s chairmanship on Thursday, the Cabinet approved naming Kabul International Airport after former president Hamid Karzai. It acted upon a proposal by the Meshrano Jirga, the senate.

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14-16 Oct 2014, SCA hosting AAN in Sweden

Thomas Ruttig •

On invitation of the prestigious Swedish Committee for Afghanistan – one of the longest engaged NGOs in the country – AAN co-director Thomas Ruttig will be in a number of public events discussing current events and results of the post-2014 international intervention in Afghanistan. They will take place in three Swedish cities, at Lund, Malmö […]

Events Read more

Bottomless Pit: U.S. Balks at Bills for Afghanistan’s Treacherous Salang Tunnel

AAN •

Wall Street Journal, 2 October 2014 The Salang tunnel – the only short link between northern and southern Afghanistan – is crumbling. Millions have been invested, but it needs to be overhauled more seriously, as it is strained by too much traffic (the article fails that it is also the needle’s eye for US and […]

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