Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Recommended Reads

The West Lives On in the Taliban’s Afghanistan

Palladium, 23 February 2023 An extensive reportage from Kabul, with some surprising findings of every-day life: In the bookstores of Kabul, at least, one can still find books by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama; contraception and tobacco are available, and the Taliban has yet to regulate internet access like other Islamic governments. One can find gyms and restaurants […]

Recommended Reads

Afghan Taliban deny banning contraceptives

The National, 18 February 2023 Two Afghan journalists, Sulaiman Hakemy and Ali Latifi, have re-researched a story that made international headlines: the alleged Taleban ban of contraceptives for women. They found there is no such ban and even managed to get an official response from the Taleban: Dr Sharafat Zaman Amar, spokesman for the Taliban-run […]

Recommended Reads

Wrestling with a Humanitarian Dilemma in Afghanistan

USIP, 25 January 2023 Former World Bank Afghanistan specialist Bill Byrd looks at one the current mot important policy matters: how to deal with the Taleban’s rejection to listen to any advice and keep lives-saving humanitarian work afloat in the middle of what he calls “an economic crisis for the entire country, one likely to […]

Recommended Reads

Afghanistan Economic Monitor

World Bank, 25 January 2023 Afghanistan’s economy had a “positive” period in the last nine months of 2022, with reduced inflation, strong revenue collection, growing exports but still a trade deficit. The country’s currency remained stable against major currencies. Civil servants’ salaries are reported to be paid on time for both men and women.

Recommended Reads

A Needs Assessment of Afghan Human Rights Defenders

Freedom House, 19 January 2023 Human rights defenders in Afghanistan and those who have fled the country face ongoing threats including arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, torture, imprisonment, and violence against family members. 90 percent of Afghan human rights defenders in Afghanistan have been subjected to such violence or threats under the Taliban’s repressive rule. This is the result of […]

Recommended Reads

Francesc Vendrell obituary: Effective United Nations peace negotiator who brought about dialogue between warring parties in many international crises

The Guardian, 5 December 2022 Jonathan Steele’s obituary for head (in his last years) of AAN’s advisory board, an outstanding diplomat with outstanding achievements who, in his youth, was an activist against Franco’s dictatorship in his homeland Catalonia: disbanding of the CIA-backed “contras”; brokering a deal in El Salvador leading to a ceasefire and free […]

Recommended Reads

[SIGAR Is] Blaming The Afghans One Last Time

Forever Wars, 22 November 2022 National-security reporter Spencer Ackerman looks at what he assumes could be the last SIGAR (“pronounced like the thing you smoke”) report, titled “Why Afghanistan’s Government Collapsed” , looks back at SIGAR’s entire reporting history and concludes: SIGAR told true stories about the trees while avoiding the forest – and the people trying […]

Recommended Reads