Thomas Ruttig

A Rift over Afghan Aid Imperils Prospects for Peace

USIP, 16 September 2019 In the context of Barnett Rubin’s call not to abandon Afghanistan in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, also read this background on pressure on aid for Afghanistan: … international discussions continue on the economic aid that will be vital to stabilizing Afghanistan under any peace deal. Yet the Afghan government […]

26 Mar 2020

An Ailing America [and everyone else] Must Not Abandon Afghanistan

Foreign Policy, 26 March 2020 This article is important as it lays out the already dire socio-economic situation of Afghanistan and possible consequences of a complete US aid cut, but also for its call to go multilateral, involve the UN and ease Iran sanctions to advance peace in Afghanistan.

26 Mar 2020

Afghanistans Parallelregierung: Die Taliban haben sich gemäßigt, weil sie an die Macht wollen

Tageszeitung, 25 March 2020 Op-ed by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig for the Berlin-based daily, looking at changes in the post-2001 Taleban movement, based on AAN research (the “One Land, Two Rules” series)

24 Mar 2020

Die Rückkehr der Taliban

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 23 March 2020 The leading Swiss daily quotes two AAN colleagues in this analysis of the “returning” Taleban movement, Thomas Ruttig and Fazl Muzhary, and an AAN paper, by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Anand Gopal, in about the ideology of the Taleban: Die Schlüsselfiguren der Bewegung seien erzkonservative Dörfler gewesen, die mit dem […]

23 Mar 2020

Stillstand bei geplantem Gefangenenaustausch in Afghanistan

Deutsche Welle, 19 March 2020 The German language service of th German public international broadcaster quotes from AAN research by Ehsan Qaane on the disputed Afghan government-Taliban prisoners release: Derzeit lasse nur die afghanische Seite Kompromissbereitschaft erkennen, während die Taliban an ihrer Position festhielten, schreibt Ehsan Qaane von der Kabuler Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network. “Präsident Ghani […]

19 Mar 2020

[Paktika] Police officer accused of torture, extortion

Pajhwok Afghan News, 19 March 2020 Residents have accused the police chief for Wazikhwa district of southeastern Paktika province being involved in killing and beating innocent citizens, drug smuggling and extorting money from Hashish farmers. Arrest warrants have not been carried out. 1st Cor. Barat, 26, has before served as police commander for Janikhel district. He […]

19 Mar 2020

Only an Afghan-led peace process can bring peace to Afghanistan

SADF, 18 March 2020 This analysis by two researchers on the South Asia Democratic Forum website relies on various AAN sources.

18 Mar 2020

Taleban Prisoners Release: Are the latest proposals legal?

Ehsan Qaane •

President Ashraf Ghani has proposed the sequenced and conditional release of 5,000 Taleban prisoners, in response to the 29 February United States-Taleban agreement which said up to 5,000 Taleban prisoners would be exchanged for up to 1,000 prisoners of ‘the other side’. The Taleban have bluntly rejected this proposal. Nevertheless, the Afghan government is standing by the terms […]

15 Mar 2020

How to keep the coronavirus from hindering the peace process in Afghanistan

Responsible Statecraft, 13 March 2020 An analysis by Prof. Barnett R Rubin, looking at factors such as the release of prisoners, ceasefire and intra-Afghan negotiations. He concludes: The pandemic makes it even more important to end the war. (…) But measures to control the spread of the pandemic could make it even more difficult to […]

13 Mar 2020

We’ve beaten the US and will fight on, vow Taliban

The Times, 13 March 2020 Quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the US-taleban deal, but behind a paywall: “Many Afghans are doubtful that the Americans will stick it out to the end,” Thomas Ruttig, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said. “One thing is for sure: the …”

13 Mar 2020

Afghanistan: Friedensprozess, Taliban, Truppenabzug

Deutschlandfunk, 12 March 2020 Interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig with the German public broadcaster. Scroll to the date and the title shown above and click to listen to the audio (in German).

12 Mar 2020

“Die politische Krise überschattet die Friedensverhandlungen”

rbb InfoRadio, 10 March 2020 Listen to an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the rival presidencies in Afghanistan and how they overshadow the planned (and now delayed) peace talks with the Taleban (in German).

10 Mar 2020