Marja 50 Years Ago: Model Villages and American Money

New York Times, 12 February 2010 NYT publishes 50 years old article on the (then) $100,000,000 project in Marja.

12 Feb 2010 Recommended Reads

Afghanistan’s outsourced war

Le Monde diplomatique, 9 February 2010 Marie-Dominique Charlier, a PolAd to the ISAF commander in 2008, describes the growing ability of private military companies ‘to influence military decisions on operational matters’ of ISAF in Afghanistan

9 Feb 2010 Recommended Reads

Citha D. Maaß: Afghanistans Drogenkarriere (Afghanistan’s Drug Career: From War to Drug Economy)

SWP Research Paper S2, January 2010 In this best paper about Afghanistan’s drug economy since a long time (it is in German but SWP should be urged to translate it as quickly as possible), the Berlin-based scholar not only reviews the latest trends in this field but also puts the analysis of these developments on […]

1 Feb 2010 Recommended Reads

Pamir Mountains, the Crossroads of History

New York Times, 20 December 2009 A travelogue by Andy Isaacson about a trip through the Pamir mountains, on the Tajik side of the Afghan border

20 Dec 2009 Recommended Reads

Restaurierung der Altstadt von Herat: Wettlauf mit der Zeit (Race against Time: The Restauration of Herat’s Old City)

al-qantara website, 12 December 2009 Britta Petersen’s reportage about the gems of an ancient cultural capital (in German).

12 Dec 2009 Recommended Reads

The master of Spin Boldak

Harper’s Magazine, December 2009 Matthieu Aikins’ undercover reportage ‘with Afghanistan’s drug-trafficking border police’ commander Abdul Raziq – an exemplaric story

1 Dec 2009 Recommended Reads

The Predator War

The New Yorker, 26 October 2009 Jane Mayer’s hair-raising account of the risks of ‘the “push-button” approach to fighting Al Qaeda’. She gives the figures of people killed during the 41 drone strikes since President Obama’s inauguration (between 326 and 538, ‘many bystanders’), explores the psyche of those remote-operating the drones and the role of […]

26 Oct 2009 Recommended Reads

The Last Mission

The New Yorker, 28 September 2009 George Packer’s portrait of Mr AfPak (alias Richard Holbrooke) is much more than a portrait

28 Sep 2009 Recommended Reads

Epistemology of Reconciliation

Read a report by Aunohita Mojumdar about the AIAS/USIP 26 August 2009 Kabul launch of Michael Semple’s book ‘Reconciliation in Afghanistan’ with Nader Nadery from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and Thomas Ruttig from AAN on the podium under ‘past events’. For the full report click here.

27 Aug 2009 Recommended Reads

Karzai in His Labyrinth

New York Times Magazine, 9 August 2009 Elizabeth Rubin’s portrait of an increasingly schizophrenic Afghan President

9 Aug 2009 Recommended Reads