Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Wirtschaftliche Kriegführung: Die Verarmung in Afghanistan als Resultat von US-Sanktionen zieht sich durch die gesamte Bevölkerung

nd, 27 February 2022 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig describes in this article how the US-driven freezing of Afghan assets abroad triggered a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan and how both many Afghans and Afghan experts see these measures as ‘economic warfare’ against the Taleban that actually hit the population not the regime.

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«Wenn die Taliban mich lassen, würde ich gerne Medizin studieren» 

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 February 2022 In this article about the exclusion of women and girls from education under the second Taleban regime, the Swiss daily quotes from an AAN report that the Taleban position vis-a-vis girls education has in fact changed in some aspects (in German): Laut einem Bericht des Afghanistan Analysts Network dürfte sich die […]

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The Taliban’s Oslo Visit: Now What?

PRIO/CMI, 22 February 2022 Listen to a 90-minutes discussion on Afghanistan, with the following participants and including pre-recorded interviews with two Taleban officials by Terje Watterdal, Norwegian Afghanistan Committee: Timor Sharan, Afghanistan Policy Lab Kate Clark, Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) Arne Strand, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) moderated by Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO

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What the Taliban Do — And Don’t Do — About Narcotics in Afghanistan

Swiss Institute for Global Affairs, 16 February 2022 An interesting look by Franz Marty at the patchy Taleban policy on drugs – from two hotspots, Bahramchah in Helmand and Memla in Nangrahar.

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Taliban in Afghanistan: Die Macht gefestigt und doch hilflos

ARD, 15 February 2022 Read a full interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (in German), tacking stock of the Taleban’s first six months in power, at the website of Germany’s largest public broadcaster.

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Is the future of girls’ education in Taliban’s Afghanistan beginning to look brighter?

Aaj TV, 12 February 2022 The website of the Indian TV station summarises AAN’s latest blog series on education under the Taleban.

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Wie groß ist die Gefahr durch den IS in Afghanistan?

Augsburger Allgemeine, 10 February 2022 Longer quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this analytical article, looking at how dangerous ISKP is in Afghanistan (in German), putting some perspective on recent reports of a ‘strengthened ISKP, as by the UN, and on a feared ‘overspill’ into neighbouring countries. On the latter: “Natürlich hat der IS diesen […]

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International Engagement And Experiences In Afghanistan

Brown Journal of World Affairs, February 2022 An interview with Arne Strand and Astri Suhrke, researchers working with CMI in Bergen (Norway), two long-term experts on Afghanistan, talking about why the Afghan (Islamic) Republic collapses so quickly, and what can be don about the Taleban and aid.

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[Taleban and schooling]

BBC, 8 February 2022 Short piece from AAN’s Kate Clark being live on BBC TV, interviewed based on the latest AAN series on the Taleban and education.

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Taliban sends daughters to school despite closing classrooms for other female students

The Telegraph, 7 January 2022 The British daily extensively quotes findings from the latest AAN research about the status of the Afghan education system under the Taleban: High ranking officials are sending their children to overseas state schools and universities while depriving schooling to millions of girls in Afghanistan since seizing power according to a […]

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Taliban Are Collecting Revenue — But How Are They Spending It?

USIP, 2 February 2022 Although economic and humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, the Taliban have taken some positive steps toward financial stability by publishing a fiscally responsible three-month budget and raising considerable amounts of domestic revenue — especially through customs duties, which have risen with a crackdown on corruption.  However, this budget raises several questions: […]

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The Betrayal: America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan 

The Atlantic, 31 January 2022 A long but worthy read by award-winning George Packer, for example on the slow, too late, bureaucratically garbled US evacuation of Afghan allies: … the president’s political advisers worried that the right would hammer Biden for resettling thousands of Muslims while historic numbers of Central American refugees were already overrunning […]

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