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.

Jumble of Figures: How much money came out of Tokyo?

Thomas Ruttig •

The Tokyo conference on Afghanistan is over. The participating donors came up with pledges of US$16 billion in development aid (1) – but pledges not always translate into money transfers (and aid effectiveness is another issue). My AAN colleague, Kate Clark, has already rightly pointed out in her 8 July blog that money alone cannot […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Flash from the Past: the 2002 Tokyo conference – the world’s most difficult story

Kate Clark •

Today’s conference on aid in Tokyo (8 July 2012) has come ten years after international donors first pledged money to post-Taleban Afghanistan. In January 2002, they promised $3 billion (over varying numbers of years, depending on the donor) which was then an enormous sum, although it turned out to be a small drop compared to […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Beyond the Tokyo Centre-Court: Civil Society Concerns

Gran Hewad •

Today’s Tokyo Conference is the third such event in a month, following the second ‘Afghanistan: Heart of Asia’ conference in Kabul on 14 June and the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan on 28 June. There have also been three other events in Tokyo, involving the UN, aid agencies and civil society organisations in the run-up […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Tokyo Conference and the Decade of Déjà Vu

Martine van Bijlert •

Another conference, another set of promises, proposals and agreements. Tomorrow, representatives over 70 countries, international organisations and the Afghan government will meet in Tokyo to discuss aid post-2014. Anyone feeling confused about yet another conference with its claims of impact and importance will find AAN’s new e-book (Snapshots of an Intervention: The Unlearned Lessons of […]

International Engagement Read more

Renewal of the Vows: The Tokyo conference between ritual and necessity

•

Tomorrow in Tokyo an international conference on Afghanistan is set to start, a little over a decade after the first donor conference on Afghanistan of the post-Taleban era took place in Japan’s capital. Between then and now many of such conference have been held, in many different places and in increasing frequency; on average once […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Mud Might Stick: Women’s Shelters Again

Sari Kouvo •

On 17 June, the Minister of Justice, Habibullah Ghaleb, said that women’s shelters were safe havens for immorality and prostitution. He was later to apologize after stirring up fierce debate in Afghan media and elsewhere about women’s shelters and provoking defences of shelters by activists, the Women’s Affairs Minister and his own deputy. Nevertheless, says […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Potholes on ISAF’s Northern Exit: a road trip through the Salang

Martin Gerner •

The news that Pakistan has agreed to re-open supply routes to Afghanistan (1) after a seven month diplomatic standoff between Washington and Islamabad will not only ease the costs for the US and other NATO member states for their withdrawal plans. It also procures northern Afghanistan – namely its road system and population – some […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Battle for Schools in Ghazni – or, Schools as a Battlefield

Fabrizio Foschini •

The anti-Taleban uprising by the people of Andar in the spring surprised many observers and, quite possibly, the insurgents themselves. This made it possible to portray it as a spontaneous struggle of local villagers for the right to education during its first weeks. Now, a month later, AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini feels that, rather than risk […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Reaction to the Kargha attack: start of a popular movement?

Gran Hewad •

A group of young Afghan men and women gathered in Kargha’s Spuzhmai Hotel on 28 June to commemorate and condemn the attack that took place during the night of 21/22 June in which a still unknown number of civilians were killed. An estimated hundred and fifty participants gathered at the site and offered prayers for […]

War and Peace Read more

The IEC proposal to move to a mixed electoral system

Thomas Ruttig •

Afghanistan’s IEC has proposed sweeping changes for a new electoral law. The draft has already been publicly debated with stakeholders, including parties and civil society, and is publicly accessible. We see two major points of proposed changes: first, the partial move away from the SNTV system and a bigger role for political parties in parliamentary […]

Political Landscape Read more

The attack in Kargha: Return of the Taleban Puritans?

Thomas Ruttig •

In a rare night-time attack, Taleban gunmen stormed a popular lakeside resort. Kargha, in the outskirts of Kabul, with its ice cream parlours and pedalo boats is frequented by Afghans of all walks of life. Overnight on Thursday/Friday, the gunmen took a number of civilians hostage in the night to Friday. The action dragged on […]

War and Peace Read more

Guest Blog: Heart of Asia Hardly Beating at the Second ‘Heart of Asia Meeting’

Niamatullah Ibrahimi •

After a promising start in Bonn 2001 but almost a decade with this idea falling dormant again, a regional approach has been identified as an essential element for a peaceful and sustainable solution for Afghanistan’s problems. Turkey had given this idea a new start in November last year with a summit meeting in Istanbul. Now, […]

International Engagement Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up