Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

External publications

Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment

Thomas Ruttig •

ISPI, 12 August 2025 AAN contributed two contributions to a dossier, “Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment” by free lance journalist and long-time Afghanistan watcher Giuliano Battiston and published by ISPI, the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) in Rome. First, under the title “Back to […]

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What went wrong? Two AAN studies for Norway’s Afghanistan Commission

AAN Team •

In October 2024, Norway appointed a second Afghanistan Commission to evaluate the country’s efforts in Afghanistan, this time covering the period from 2015 to 2021. As part of its review, it examined Norway’s military contribution, development assistance and its efforts to support peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, as well as the 2021 evacuation operation. As with […]

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Untergrundschulen und Online-Kurse: Trotz Taliban-Verboten halten Aktivist*innen in Afghanistan Nischen offen, in denen Frauen und Mädchen weiter Zugang zu Bildung haben

Thomas Ruttig •

Südlink, June 2026: Article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig for the German NGO INKOTA Network’s north-south magazine (in German), looking at the last niches kept open by activists for women and girls to still be able to access education in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan: underground schools and online courses. While the former are illegal, although often Taleban officials […]

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Themenschwerpunkt Afghanistan: Politisch gefestigt, wirtschaftlich auf wackligen Beinen, humanitär katastrophal 

Thomas Ruttig •

Asylmagazin 3/2026: AAN’s Thomas Ruttig contributed a comprehensive analysis of the current political, socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan for the German-based specialised magazine that provides up-to-date background information on legal issues surrounding the topics of flight and migration that are relevant for lawyers and NGOs providing advice to refugees and asylum seekers and […]

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Repères famine: Afghanistan – le défi de la malnutrition infantile

Fabrizio Foschini • Rohullah Sorush •

Moyen Orient No. 61, Jan-March 2024 This article is the French version of Fabrizio Foschini et Rohullah Sorush’s AAN July 2023 report “No Food For Hope: Afghanistan’s Child Malnutrition Dilemma in 2023.” It appears here in a special issue under the title “Crise alimentaire et géopolitique de la faim”.

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La Croazia e i migranti alle frontiere d’Europa

Fabrizio Foschini •

Clionet, December 2023 This article is a revised version of an earlier AAN report by Fabrizio on Afghan refugees on the Balkan route, this time focusing solely on Croatia and published in the Italian online journal of contemporary history, Clionet.

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Försiktigt kinesiskt engagemang i Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

Swedish Afghanistan Committee, 18 December 2023 This is an abbreviated translation into Swedish of Thomas Ruttig’s Septemr 2023 AAN report, titled “Chinese Investments in Afghanistan: Strategic economic move or incentive for the Emirate?” on the Swedish Committee’s website.

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Erdbeben in Herat: Die Naturkatastrophe in West-Afghanistan trifft die Schwächsten

Thomas Ruttig •

Blätter des iz3w, 11 December 2023 This article is an overview about the October 2023 series of earthquakes in Herat, its repercussions for the local population and the response to it by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, written for the ‘Blätter’ which is one of the longest-standing German NGO journals on north-south relations (in German).

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Picture shows former president Karzai with his hands raised to calm the crowd, flanked by among others Ustad Sayyaf.

AAN’s Thomas Ruttig contributes to book on political Islam

Thomas Ruttig •

In his book chapter, Thomas looks at the history of political Islam, and particular its militant movements in Afghanistan, starting from the emergence of armed Islamist groups during the republic of president Daud (1973-78) to the second rule of the Taleban. In German. Thomas Ruttig, “Der politische Islam in Afghanistan”, in: F. Keser, D. Schmidt, […]

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Afghanistan nach der Machtübernahme der Taleban: Eine Lagebeurteilung

Thomas Ruttig •

Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (ZFAS), June and July 2023 Abstract: In Afghanistan, the Taleban are firmly entrenched; however, they are isolating themselves internationally through a policy of unprecedented hostility toward human rights, while suppressing all dissent domestically. Following its failure there (2001–2021), the West retains virtually no leverage, yet—as the largest donor—it cannot ignore […]

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Afghanistan’s War Economy

Thomas Ruttig •

Maldekstra, 22 September 2022 This article was contributed by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig to a special issue of the international affairs journal Maldekstra (no 16, September 2022), published by German Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, titled “Economy in War.” His contribution looks at the two categories of profiteurs from the last Afghan war, the international military-industrial complex and […]

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Who Opposes the Taliban? Old Politics, Resistance and the Looming Risk of Civil War

Fabrizio Foschini •

ISPI, 11 August 2022 This article by AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini is a contribution to a dossier published by the Milan-based Italian Institute for International Political Studies and edited by Giuliano Battiston and Nicola Missaglia, titled “Afghanistan, One Year Later.” He looks at three groups in particular, the political that “lack[s] the means to effectively influence Afghan […]

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