Thomas Ruttig

An Endgame in the Endless War

Slate, 5 April 2021 Two quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this analysis by the US magazine of the The Biden administration’s search “for a way to get out—and stay out—of Afghanistan.” The first one on US co-responsibility for the current situation (ongoing and escalated war, not peace; high poverty levels instead of successful reconstruction) […]

5 Apr 2021

Strangers in a Homeland: one man works to help Afghan migrants return to a place they never knew

Vanity Fair, Spring 2021 Experienced Afghanistan reporter May Jeong’s reportage about two Afghans, one deported with his family, one ‘voluntarily’ returned, and Abdul Ghafoor, the one man who helps people like them in Kabul, and his small organisation AMASO. With some sobering information: In 2017, when the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental body associated […]

2 Apr 2021

A Troika of Four: Looking back at the March 2021 Afghanistan meeting in Moscow

Thomas Ruttig •

The ‘extended troika’ meeting in Moscow on 18 March did not spark a significant new impulse in the search for peace in Afghanistan. Instead, it followed a well-known pattern. Foreign powers offered platitudes about an ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-owned’ peace process, again, while they insist on setting the timeline themselves and handpick those who are to be […]

2 Apr 2021

Mild winter in Afghanistan threatens staple potato crop

The Third Pole, 1 April 2021 Reportage from Bamian, the province providing half of Afghanistan’s needs for potatoes, but being hit this winter by an approximate drop by 65% in precipitation compared with normal years: There are now concerns around water scarcity this year, as snowmelt is an important source of water for crops and […]

1 Apr 2021

Conditions-based Interim Government: President Ghani presents a preview of his peace plan

Thomas Ruttig •

President Ashraf Ghani has raised the curtain on his peace plan and agreed to the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan. Ghani summarised his plan in a speech at the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia/Istanbul Process – a gathering of regional and other states on security and cooperation in Central Asia […]

1 Apr 2021

Afghanistan: Winning the War or Building a State?

ODI blog, 31 March 2021 In this short analysis of Western-funded security sector institution building and reform as well as of the current status of the ANSF main forces (except the NDS), the author states that “the objective of ‘winning the war’ has frequently undermined the very state that was being built” and that “[t]he […]

31 Mar 2021

Thomas Ruttig über die Lage in Afghanistan & die Taliban

Jung & Naiv, 31 March 2021 A 2.5 hours long interview with Tilo Jung in his video blog (in German) about the current situation, peace talks, Germany’s asylum policy and deportations and many other Afghanistan-related issues.

31 Mar 2021

Verhandlungen mit den Taliban: Schachzüge beim Friedensplan

Tageszeitung, 31 March 2021 A guest article for the Berlin-based daily by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, analysing the latest developments in the search for a peaceful solution to the Afghanistan war (in German).

31 Mar 2021

Die Abschiebeoase: Das Hotel »Spinzar« in Kabul als erste Anlaufstelle für zurückgewiesene Geflüchtete

nd, 31 March 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig quoted in the Berlin based daily on Germany’s and Austria’s asylum policies on Afghanistan in this reportage by Emran Feroz about Kabul’s Spinzar Hotel, a transitional shelter for deported unsuccessful Afghan asylum seekers without a place or family to go to in Afghanistan (in German): Thomas Ruttig, Co-Direktor […]

31 Mar 2021

Afghanischer Präsident deutet Zustimmung zu Übergangsregierung an

dpa/SDA, 30 March 2021 The German/Swiss news agency includes a short quote by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on Afghan president Ghani’s (conditions-based) agreement to an interim government he, so far, had vehemently opposed (in German): Aus Sicht des Afghanistan-Experten Thomas Ruttig von der Kabuler Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network hat Ghani offenbar dem Druck der USA nachgegeben, […]

31 Mar 2021

The Taliban Think They Have Already Won, Peace Deal or Not

New York Times, 30 March 2021 A quote from AAN research by Thomas Ruttig in this article: In some areas under Taliban control, they have permitted schools for girls to continue operating, Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, pointed out in a recent paper — though, he notes, this may be driven more by political […]

30 Mar 2021

Have the Taliban Changed?

Thomas Ruttig •

CTC Sentinel, March 2021 This is a guest article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig for the March 2021 issue of the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC’s) monthly Sentinel, at the Department of Social Sciences of the US’s West Point military academy. It is based on Thomas’s experience from working with the UN during and after the Taleban’s rule […]

29 Mar 2021