Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Reports

Reports – previously known as dispatches – are the flagship of the AAN website and our main type of publication. AAN reports are based on extensive desk and field research and provide timely and in-depth information and analysis.

AAN Live: Reading between the lines of Bonn 2

Thomas Ruttig •

The Bonn 2 conference was huge – with 100 delegations, it was quantitatively the biggest ever on Afghanistan. Yet expectations had grown progressively more limited over the past few months and the speeches, this morning, from the main protagonists delivered few surprises. President Karzai was particularly bland, repeating again his ‘continued’ commitment to fighting corruption […]

International Engagement Read more

From Bonn 1 to Bonn 2: Afghanistan’s missed opportunities

Francesc Vendrell •

The author, Francesc Vendrell served in Afghanistan as both the Personal Representative the UN Secretary-General and the EU Special Representative. He looks back on the past decade, describing the pre-Bonn attempts at a political settlement, the first Bonn conference and the opportunities that were missed since then. Prolonged conflicts are particularly difficult to resolve, often […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghan Civil Society Forum in Bonn (2): A Day of Messaging

Thomas Ruttig •

The discussion about a possible peace process that would include the Taleban dominated the discussions on day 2 of the Afghan Civil Society Forum in Bonn on Saturday. While it became obvious that the Afghan organisations still have to do some homework, they professionally reacted to a smear campaign at home declaring that they do […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghan Civil Society Forum in Bonn (1): Occupy the JCMB?

Thomas Ruttig •

The tone makes the music, we say here in Germany – ie: it is not only what you say but how you say it. Despite plenty of efforts by the organisers, four German political foundations, to make the 34 elected Afghan delegates to the Bonn Civil Society Forum feel comfortable there were a number of […]

International Engagement Read more

The New National Front: A Dark Horse Returns – with Three Riders

Gran Hewad •

Two months after the death of Burhanuddin Rabbani, his old coalition, the National Front of Afghanistan (Jebha-ye Melli Afghanistan), has been revived. The new grouping is calling for radical political reform in order, as they see it, to re-enfranchise the Afghan voter. They want decentralization,a proportional voting system and a prime minister. At the same […]

Political Landscape Read more

Bonn2 and Civil Society: An Afghan election and German events (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

One week to go to the international Bonn 2 conference, and even less to the Civil Society Forum (CSF) on 2 and 3 November. The first delegates and representatives of Afghan civil society organisations (which is not the same) are trickling in, also for a whole string of events directly linked – or in opposition […]

International Engagement Read more

The Thin Red Durand Line

Fabrizio Foschini •

The air-strikes that hit two Pakistani check-posts on the border between Mohmand Agency and Kunar province, killing 24 (some sources still report 25 or 26) Pakistani security forces and injuring a dozen more, have triggered, as expected, a strong reaction from the Pakistani authorities. As of now, Pakistan, ISAF and the Afghan military have very […]

Regional Relations Read more

The Past is Here to Stay: Listening to Afghan Voices on Justice and Reconciliation

Sari Kouvo •

The abuses and violations suffered by Afghans during the conflicts are all but forgotten, and although pragmatic about what is possible in the current security environment, Afghans seem to view reconciliation and justice as intimately linked. AAN’s Sari Kouvo takes a look at recent publications by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) documenting Afghan […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

2001 Ten Years on (3): The fall of Loya Paktia and why the US preferred warlords

Kate Clark •

In Loya Paktia the people, rather than commanders, overthrew the Taleban in 2001 – one of the very few places where this happened. Tribal councils took power, driving out al-Qaida fighters and doing all of it peacefully. Khost and then Paktia provinces fell to tribal coalitions on 14 November 2001, just one day after the […]

War and Peace Read more

Afghanistan’s business elite has its own election

Martine van Bijlert •

Last month Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce, the ACCI, elected its new leadership. The process was not without controversy. A lively pre-election trade in ACCI membership cards allowed large numbers of underage children and people who had nothing to do with running a business to participate in the vote at the provincial level. And at the […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Sugar trapped on the Silk Road

Fabrizio Foschini •

For many observers of Afghanistan, local and foreigner, Pakistan has become, through the years, an indispensable part of the political equation, its image increasingly darkened by the spread of conflict to its own territory and because of the the charge of interference in the Afghan conflict. Pakistan itself, its politics, society and economy, and especially […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Traditional Loya Jirga 3: lacklustre political theatre (amended)

Kate Clark •

The Traditional Loya Jirga (TLJ) is over, after a drab last day in which President Karzai got his public backing for signing a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) with the United States. However, it was clear to all watching the proceedings on television that the discussion had hardly been lively and the results tightly controlled. The […]

Political Landscape Read more

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