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.

Rallies, Debate, Rain and Snow: The 2014 presidential election campaign starts

Kate Clark •

The Afghan presidential election campaign has kicked off – two months before polling day. Candidates are showing a range of attitudes, from launching big, brash public rallies to a rather desultory ‘we start tomorrow’ attitude. With no evident frontrunner, it seems the campaign will involve a real attempt to win over voters and will be […]

Political Landscape Read more

The End of a Police Chief: Factional rivalries and pre-election power struggles in Kunduz

Lola Cecchinel •

In the beginning, it looked like good news: had Kunduz police chief, Khalil Andarabi, been sacked because he had led Afghan Local Police (ALP) and militia units on a looting rampage against civilians? If this were the case, it would have meant that the bad track record of the Local Police and illegal militias was […]

Political Landscape Read more

Not a "Tailless Star”: an obituary for leading Afghan intellectual Muhammad Qasim Akhgar

Thomas Ruttig •

On Tuesday night (28 January 2014), with the passing away of Muhammad Qasim Akhgar, Afghanistan lost one of its leading intellectuals. Ustad Akhgar died after a long illness, only 62 years old and he died as he had lived, in more than modest circumstances. An independent leftist, author and human rights activist, who maintained his […]

Context and Culture Read more

Flash from the Past: Long Live Consensus – a look back at the 2003 Constitutional Loya Jirga

Thomas Ruttig •

It is ten years since Afghanistan got its new constitution. It had been debated over 22 days by the 502 delegates to a specially convened Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ). Hailed as one of the most progressive constitutions in the region, it was also called a “juggle of the Quran and democracy” (The New York Times). The […]

Political Landscape Read more

Cards on the Table: Transparency and post-2014 Afghan aid

Thomas Ruttig •

The joint Afghan-international strategy for 2015 to 2024, the so-called transition period, is based on the assumption that the security situation in the country is conducive to continuing large-scale development programmes. Recently released figures, however, indicate that the instability has not diminished, with a negative impact on access for those who implement, monitor and use […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Future of Peace Talks: What would make a breakthrough possible?

Borhan Osman •

Attempts last year to reconcile the Taleban ended where they had started a year before – stuck in stalemate. Two major developments this year, however, could affect the peace process. The departure of President Hamid Karzai and accession of a new leader in the spring provides an opportunity for rebooting the peace process. At best, […]

War and Peace Read more

Another Red Line Crossed: The Taverna attack and the killing of foreigners just because they were foreigners (amended)

Christine Roehrs • Kate Clark •

The attack on the restaurant La Taverna du Liban, a favourite among Afghans and internationals in Kabul, has hit close to home for many working in and on Afghanistan. With 20 Afghans and foreigners killed while having dinner, it was one of the bloodiest and most ruthless strikes of the Taliban in years. This was an […]

War and Peace Read more

Obituary: The master of modern Pashto ghazal passes away

Borhan Osman •

One of Afghanistan’s most important poets, Muhammad Seddiq Pasarly, has died, aged 85. Known popularly as the ‘Master of Pashto Ghazal’ (Pashto love poems), Pasarly also translated works by Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Persian poet and philosopher Omar Khayyam for Pashto readers. AAN’s Borhan Osman has written this obituary.   What is youth? It is […]

Context and Culture Read more

Little Leagues, Great Hopes: Afghan grassroots football kicks off

S Reza Kazemi •

Afghanistan’s football premier league and its national team have received tremendous attention inside and outside the country, particularly after the national team’s victory in the 2013 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship. Children’s football, on the other hand, has gone largely unnoticed – although experts say that an Afghan team has the chance to even […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Fear, Hope and Determination: Afghanistan and the 2014 Syndrome

Martine van Bijlert •

Ever since in 2011 President Obama announced his timeline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the prospect of 2014 has been looming ominously over the country. And now we are here, at the beginning of this almost mythical year. There is nervousness and fear, but also pushback, with some Afghans believing that the […]

Political Landscape Read more

A Mutual Interdependency? The BSA and why the US still wants it

Gary Owen •

Early in December 2013, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, made it clear that if the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between the governments of Afghanistan and the United States was not signed by the end of the 2013, there would be no more American troops in Afghanistan in 2015. […]

International Engagement Read more

In memory of Dr Victor G. Korgun

Ekaterina Stepanova •

When it comes to expertise on Afghanistan, not many look east. Those who did will have discovered Russian Viktor Korgun who, as we were sad to learn today, has passed away in Moscow. He was also respected in Afghanistan as shown by the invitation – as one of only few foreign experts – to a scientific conference […]

Context and Culture Read more

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