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.

2010 Election (32): Crimes, misdemeanours but no consequences?

Gran Hewad •

When the final result of Afghanistan’s parliamentary election is published tomorrow (Wednesday)(*), this saga might be over for much of the outside world. Because the process has become so bungled, there will be a big sigh of relief: ‘at least we have the list of the MPs now’. Not so for many Afghans. So called […]

Political Landscape Read more

Five Things Worth Watching

Martine van Bijlert •

In early November several of AAN’s analysts and members gathered in Stockholm, to brainstorm, exchange ideas and participate in the annual SCA conference. We started the discussions by doing a quick round, asking everyone what the one or two issues were that are likely to be central, or that should not be forgotten, as we […]

Context and Culture Read more

The Inteqal Express Gets Green Light in Lisbon

Thomas Ruttig •

This Friday’s NATO summit in Lisbon will nod through the Obama administration’s decision that there will be a phased handover of security tasks to the Afghan forces, maybe province-by-province, ‘inteqal’ in short. This is part of Petraeus’ copy-cat ‘Iraqi solution’ and the US allies’ exit strategy: declare combat operations over, withdraw a part of the […]

International Engagement Read more

Birding for Survival

AAN Team •

Our Dutch ex-soldier-cum-birdwatcher HG Scheltema from Kandahar (see his bird list here(*) has a friend, a US National Guardsman from Connecticut who served in Iraq for a year in 2004/05: Birding Babylon. His name is Jonathan Trouern-Trend who wrote a blog on his bird-watching (see it here, it seems to be continued by other bloggers). Meanwhile, […]

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Flash from the Past: Missed Opportunities for Reconciliation

Anand Gopal •

Our guest author Anand Gopal (*) looks back how chances for integrating Taleban into Afghanistan’s past-2001 political system were squandered and how the alienation of leading former commanders in Kandahar became a key motivating factor in sparking the insurgency. Therefore, the original article had the following sub-line: ‘The Victor’s Hubris and the Failure of Reconciliation’. […]

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Gulbuddin ante portas – again (2)

Thomas Ruttig •

Veteran mujahedin and current no. 2 insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar gave a rare and extensive interview to German TV. AAN’s Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig thinks that he was trying a walk on the tightrope, responding to the opened doors for ‘reconciliation’ while projecting that he is not too soft on the US and Kabul’s offers […]

War and Peace Read more

2010 Elections 31: Who will fix the election?

Martine van Bijlert •

The ECC has forwarded the names of 413 candidates to the Attorney General’s Office, while the Attorney General’s Office has initiated investigations into both electoral bodies. As the various branches of government argue over how the process should have been done and who is to blame for the flaws, it is becoming increasingly clear that […]

Political Landscape Read more

2010 Elections 30: Loose ends and entanglements

Martine van Bijlert •

As the basic data is still being released and clarified (or not), the IEC has found itself confronted with a series of awkward loose ends. This is being complicated by the rising pressure from candidates, the palace and, more recently, the Attorney General’s Office, as an increasing number of actors is being dragged into the […]

Political Landscape Read more

Another High Council, for ‘Our’ Youth

Thomas Ruttig •

After the big success of the High Peace Council, the sequel follows suit: After a two-day ‘General Assembly’ in the Loya Jirga tent in Kabul, a National Youth High Council has been formed. Reading its final press release, it sounds as if it has been organized by the Afghan government itself. Is it now claiming […]

Political Landscape Read more

Splitting the Haqqanis with NATO Reconciliation Air?

Thomas Ruttig •

The initial big wave of reports about talks with the Taleban gathering speed and of a possible short-term ‘reconciliation’ have given way for a slower but steady trickle of spicy detail. A detail dropped here, some names there, mixed with half-denials like Richard Holbrooke’s ‘There is less than meets the eye’ line keep the shurwa(*) […]

War and Peace Read more

Reconciliation in Afghanistan: Can the UN right some wrongs?

Horia Mosadiq •

Our guest author Horia Mosadiq(*) looks at the United Nations’ role now and then in Afghanistan, with special attention to its numerous attempts to ‘peace deals relying largely on power-sharing’. She sees the latest initiatives for ‘reconciliation’ as a continuation of this approach and discusses its possible implications for justice, with its inherent differentiation of […]

International Engagement Read more

A Washington Diary: Partition Lite and a lot of hope

Thomas Ruttig •

Less than two weeks to go to the US mid-term elections with the expected rout of Obama’s democrats, the war in Afghanistan is no issue at all in the campaign. The decision, says everyone here, is taken anyway: The US will pull out most of its troops, re-label the rest as trainers and advisers, keep […]

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