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.

What the US Senate’s report on Afghanistan does and doesn’t say

Martine van Bijlert •

Last week the US Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations released its evaluation of US foreign assistance to Afghanistan. The report received a lot of attention, mainly as a result of the power and urgency of its message: that much of US assistance is expensive, unsustainable and based on shaky premises. These issues warrant all the […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Innovative Loya Jirga-ism

Thomas Ruttig •

President Karzai announced during a press conference on 31 May that a Loya Jirga was due ‘in the coming days’ (my emphasis) to discuss ‘the strategic relationships with the U.S., [that] all the people of Afghanistan from all different parts will gather together[,] view their options and the final decision will be made by Afghans’. […]

Political Landscape Read more

How the West Contributed to the ANSF’s Dire State

Thomas Ruttig •

The Independent on Sunday came out today with an article highlighting the dire state of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The article’s headline is self-explanatory: ‘After 10 years, no security unit is fit to take over from coalition in Afghanistan’. Indeed, there are grave concerns whether the ANSF can fully take over by 2014 […]

International Engagement Read more

The Peace Process in Nangrahar; what people say

Fabrizio Foschini •

It has been a year since the Peace Jirga in Kabul endorsed the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, APRP (still only a draft then), and the start of the peace process with the successive creation of the High Peace Council. We have been hearing almost everything about it, good or bad, in Kabul. But what […]

Political Landscape Read more

When Rumour Replaces Logic – The Takhar Killing

Christopher Reuter •

When General Mohammed Daud Daud, the highest police officer of the northeast and commander of the Pamir region, was killed by a meticulously prepared bomb in the Takhar governor’s office on May 28th, one thing at least seemed to be clear: who was behind it – in particular after the Taleban proudly announced their responsibility. […]

War and Peace Read more

Afghanistan’s Parliament or How to Hold on to Your Seat

Martine van Bijlert •

Parliament has decided to postpone its regular recess. It was supposed to start today, but the Parliamentarians just don’t want to go yet. They spent most of their last session discussing how they hadn’t properly started their work and how they wouldn’t be able to face their constituents if they went home. And that they […]

Political Landscape Read more

Towards a More United Voice of Afghan Civil Society: Step Two

Fabrizio Foschini •

During the last week of May a delegation of Afghan civil society activists visited Italy in a follow-up to the Kabul conference of two months ago, by the title ‘Promoting Dialogue and Peace in Afghanistan: Strengthening Afghan Civil Society’. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini followed to Rome the members of the steering committee composed of several Afghan […]

International Engagement Read more

AAN Reads: The Soviets in Afghanistan, In Their Narrative

Thomas Ruttig •

Rodric Braithwaite’s ‘Afgantsy’ has already deservedly been widely praised for its Soviet and Russian sources-based account of the Soviet intervention years in Afghanistan. AAN’s Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig joins in, but finds that Artemy Kalinovsky’s ‘The Long Goodbye’ is a more than worthy addition on this issue. Rodric Braithwaite’s book has already deservedly been reviewed […]

Regional Relations Read more

The Enteqal Seven (4): Herat, the Seeds of Fear

Fabrizio Foschini •

Herat was a logical choice for the transition: rich, cultivated, well-connected, Herat makes the kind of city that can stand on its own feet without much effort. But of course, transition comes with a price. As it seems more and more apparent, the insurgents are keen on targeting these new would-be symbols of success for […]

International Engagement Read more

Kill or Capture 3: When the International Military Says ‘Sorry’

Kate Clark •

President Karzai has said he will no longer allow NATO airstrikes on houses because they are causing too many civilian casualties. The president’s ultimatum follows the pictures shown on Afghan TV on 29 May of distraught villagers in Helmand carrying the bruised and dusty corpses of their small children who had been killed in an […]

War and Peace Read more

The Killing Continues – the Taloqan attack (Updated)

Martine van Bijlert •

The impact of yesterday’s suicide attack in Takhar, which killed the police commander of the northern zone General Daud and six others, is wide ranging. The international security forces and those counting on a smooth transition have lost an important partner. The Jamiat-based networks have lost a battlefield commander. The (northern) youth have lost a […]

War and Peace Read more

The Enteqal Seven (3): Lashkargah – Southern Poster Child for Transition

Jen Mackenzie •

The choice of Lashkargah as one of the first areas to be transferred into Afghan security responsibility was a surprise but can be explained: It is to give credence to the fulsome ISAF reports and certain sections of the media that peace, hope, and stability are just around the corner in this troubled corner of […]

War and Peace Read more

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