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.

Some of the cabinet candidates (left to right: sitting: Rabbani, Maiwandi, Karimi, standing: Ulumi) at today's press conference. Photo: screenshot from Ariana TV.

New Faces Versus Old Structures: Afghanistan’s national unity cabinet (amended)

AAN Team •

Finally, Afghanistan has a cabinet, pending parliament’s approval of course, three and a half months after Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah were inaugurated as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of a national unity government. Getting an agreed-upon list has been a long, painful process, for both negotiators and for Afghans waiting for a government […]

Political Landscape Read more

The Wrong Mission? New AAN discussion paper looks at NATO’s ‘Resolute Support’

AAN Team •

AAN’s first paper of the new year – “Resolute Support Light: NATO’s New Mission versus the Political Economy of the Afghan National Security Forces” by guest author Philipp Münch – looks at NATO’s chances of achieving its goals in Afghanistan with Resolute Support (RS). The mission replaced ISAF on 1 January 2015. NATO’s motto in Afghanistan […]

International Engagement Read more

Taleban for the Ghani Cabinet? A look at a BBC report

Thomas Ruttig •

It sounded like ‘breaking news’ from Kabul: “The Taliban have been offered posts in the new Afghan government, but have turned them down, the BBC understands. The offer came from new President Ashraf Ghani in a bid to end the insurgency that threatens the recovery of the country.” The BBC report, that came just before […]

War and Peace Read more
Civil Society's symbolic cabinet. Photo courtesy of Khaama.

104 Days Without a Government – and Counting: The national mood sours

Kate Clark • Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

More than three months after President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah were inaugurated, they have still not formed a government. That continuing lack of a cabinet has meant public confidence and patience – which, at the time of the inauguration, ran high – are now wearing thin. A civil society […]

Political Landscape Read more
Balloons for the cabinet inauguration are still available. Photo: Martine van Bijlert.

After the Rollercoaster Comes What? Afghanistan in 2015

Martine van Bijlert •

2014 was a rollercoaster of a year. The transition was completed. It did not tear the country apart or fragment the security forces, but it sometimes felt close. Afghanistan now stands at the beginning of the optimistically named Decade of Transformation. The country has a new leadership, both fuelled by confidence and ambition and bogged […]

International Engagement Read more

A Happy and Peaceful New Year!

AAN Team •

Dear AAN friends and readers, we here at the Afghanistan Analysts Network would like to wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year 2015. May it bring us closer to peace in Afghanistan. The team will certainly keep you up to date about what is happening in this regard – and in many […]

Context and Culture Read more

A “Pending Issue”: Pakistani Balochs seeking shelter in Afghanistan

Monica Bernabe •

While millions of Afghans have fled to Pakistan over the past four decades, now, Pakistanis are flocking to Afghanistan. There are not only those who flee Pakistani military operations in Waziristan, though, but also Pakistani Balochs who say that they flee from repression by the Pakistani government, linked to latest Baloch insurgency activities. In Afghanistan, […]

Regional Relations Read more

“Green Is Happiness, Green Is Peace”: Gardening Afghanistan, from Babur to Bost hospital

Lalage Snow •

A garden for a king who loved the flower covered Kabul foothills so much he wanted to be buried there, a garden for checkpoint soldiers (where once a queen allegedly had tea under an apricot tree), one for hospital patients to heal in and one for the children of a poor farmer. In the midst […]

Context and Culture Read more

Merry Christmas!

AAN Team •

Here at AAN, we’d like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas! May your holidays, in Afghanistan as well as abroad, be peaceful. And for those who remain in Kabul and wish to celebrate in style: as every year, fancy trees  are back again and sold, including decoration, on Flower Street in Shar-e Naw. Many […]

Context and Culture Read more

Rambo Was Too Late: Afghanistan in Western films (part I), from 1909 to 2001

Christian Bleuer •

Afghanistan has rarely featured in western films, especially when compared to other foreign locales – from countries in Africa to Latin America to East Asia. This cinematic neglect is matched by the lower prominence that Afghanistan was accorded in the popular imagination and in western foreign policy during this era. Despite the shortage of films about […]

Context and Culture Read more
Kabul Bank: glitzy facade, foul credits. Photo: ToloNews

AAN Podcasts: Martine van Bijlert talks Kabul Bank

Thomas Ruttig •

Regular visitors to the AAN website will have noticed that we have added an additional channel to our publications: podcasts. Although we already posted some podcasts earlier on (visit the archive here), you will be able to literally hear from us more regularly, from now on. We start our new podcast series with a comment […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Empty Streets of Mohammad Agha: Logar’s struggle against the Taleban

Obaid Ali •

Logar province has become a dangerous place to live for many residents. The number of violent incidents and assassinations of locals committed by Taleban has increased starkly. AAN’s Obaid Ali describes how the Taleban intimidate and exploit the people of this province just south of Kabul and how they challenge local security forces, especially the […]

War and Peace Read more

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