Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

The Peculiar Presence of the Islamic State in Kunar

AAN •

The Diplomat, 14 May 2019 A fascinating on-the-ground reportage from Kunar by Franz Marty about IS presence in this eastern province – a good antidote to  latest alarmist pieces about IS planning to attack the US and Russian allegations about 5,000 Daesh fighters in northern Afghanistan. According to this report, Daesh took over two villages […]

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Global Peace Index 2019

AAN •

Institute for Economics and Peace, 12 June 2019 The “Global Peace Index 2019” now lists Afghanistan as the least peaceful country in the world. Out of 163 countries, Afghanistan ranks 163. Afghanistan also incurred the second-largest economic cost of violence worldwide in 2018, equivalent to 47 percent of its GDP.

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How Afghanistan’s Judiciary Lost Its Independence

Thomas Ruttig •

The Diplomat, 5 June 2019 This article contains several quotes of and references to AAN, for example on the 2006 case when then-Preisdent Karzai appointed his close aide and legal adviser as the head of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. When his term ended, Karzai — in clear violation of the constitution — appointed him as […]

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Mullah Baradar bekommt ein Gesicht: Der Verhandler der Taliban

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 29 May 2019 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig wrote a portrait for the Berlin-based daily of the new political deputy chief of the Taleban Mulla Baradar who, factually (but not officially  – he is actually the supervisor of the Taleban negotiators) and who had met US Afghan envoy Khalilzad and participated in the recent intra-Afghan meeting […]

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Afghanistan verschiebt Provinzratswahlen

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa/Salzburger Nachrichten, 29 May 2019 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted in this agency report on the postponement of Afghanistan’s provincial council elections: Afghanistan-Kenner halten die Verschiebung der Wahlen angesichts des Umfelds für notwendig. Sie sei aber dennoch nicht gut, sagte der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig von der Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network, denn es würde die institutionellen […]

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Mission Creep: How the NSA’s Game-Changing Targeting System Built for Iraq and Afghanistan Ended Up on the Mexican Border

AAN •

The Intercept, 29 May 2019 The article refers to an AAN case study of a targeted killing case based on mistaken identity in Afghanistan by Kate Clark: In 2010, U.S. Special Forces killed a number of people in a convoy that belonged to a candidate in the Afghan parliamentary election. It later turned out that […]

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A dramatic development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine

AAN •

LSE blog, 28 May 2019 David Mansfield and Alexander Soderholm point out a new development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine, and argue that this is obscured by the new and – in contrast – highly publicised  US airstrikes against drugs labs in South-western Afghanistan, “claiming that they caused the […]

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Afghanistan’s Air Is Deadlier Than Its War

AAN •

Foreign Policy, 26 May 2019 Despite the headline that might somewhat trivialises the war, this photo essay points to a severely underreported part of Afghan reality: the lethal danger that stems from environmental damage (much of it conflict- and poverty-related): Air pollution is killing more Afghans than the war. According to the State of Global […]

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Afghanistan: Wie viel Macht hat der Präsident?

Thomas Ruttig •

Telepolis, 16 May 2019 Afghan-Austrian journalist Emraz Feroz, in this article for one of the leading German-language news websites, quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on discussion around the power of still-Afghan President Ghani  after the Peace Loya Jirga and at the eve of the end of his first tenure: “Das Problem und teilweise auch der Anlass […]

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U.S. Raises the Stakes in Afghanistan From the Air

AAN •

Foreign Policy, 16 May 2019 Starts as a reportage from Qala-ye Zal district of Kunduz where the government only controls two of 107 villages: “‘This is a safe area for the Taliban,’ Andarabi said. ‘They can have picnics in Qala-i-Zal, because the government doesn’t do any operations here.’ […] And now, in what appears to […]

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For Afghan Refugee Women, There’s No Escape From Violence

AAN •

Foreign Policy, 5 April 2019 “Thousands of women have set off on their own for Turkey, but harassment from Afghan men often follows them to their new country” writes Fariba Nawa. Stories of Afghan girls and women, on the run from domestic violence, death threats, sexual assault, forced marriage, and a 40-year war.

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