Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Special Reports

Special Reports – formerly known as thematic reports or briefing papers – are more substantive publications on subjects that are high on the policy agenda. Special Reports are all externally peer-reviewed.

A Lot to Worry About: Pakistan on the Eve of Elections

Ann Wilkens •

The election in Pakistan on 11 May 2013 is just around the corner – but it has not drawn much attention in international media. A new AAN Briefing Paper by Ann Wilkens, ‘A Lot to Worry About: Pakistan on the Eve of Its First Democratic Transition’, who is a member of AAN’s Advisory Board, looks […]

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Militia Disbandment and Peace Building: AAN republication of a 2008 paper

Barbara Stapleton •

Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) was the name of a crucial programme in the post-Taleban years in Afghanistan that ran from 2006 to 2011. As the successor to the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) programme, it was designed to disband those remaining armed groups in the areas of the country not covered by DDR […]

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Eagle’s Summit Revisited: AAN report about Decision-Making in the Kajaki Dam Project

Noah Arjomand •

In the summer of 2008, in what was described as the biggest British-led ‘route clearance operation’ since World War II, nearly 5000 ISAF and Afghan troops transported eight components of a hydroelectric turbine, each weighing 20 to 30 tonne, from Kandahar Air Field to the Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province – in the face of […]

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How It All Began: Pre-1979 Origins of Afghanistan’s Conflict

Thomas Ruttig •

For most people, it was the Soviet invasion over Christmas 1979 that put Afghanistan on the political map when, in the very last days of the 1970s, the Soviet leadership made the central Asian country the arena of the hottest conflict in the last part of the Cold War. As a result, the internationalised Afghanistan […]

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AAN political parties paper series 2: Rise and Decline of Maoism

Niamatullah Ibrahimi • Robert Peszkowski •

With two new reports – ‘Ideology without Leadership: The rise and decline of Maoism in Afghanistan’ by Niamatullah Ibrahimi and ‘Reforming Jombesh: An Afghan Party on Its Winding Road to Internal Democracy’ by Robert Peszkowski – AAN has launched a new series of papers that look at the development of political parties and movements in […]

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Start of AAN political parties paper series 1: Reforming Jombesh

Niamatullah Ibrahimi • Robert Peszkowski •

With two new reports – ‘Reforming Jombesh: An Afghan Party on Its Winding Road to Internal Democracy’ by Robert Peszkowski and ‘Ideology without Leadership: The rise and decline of Maoism in Afghanistan’ by Niamatullah Ibrahimi – AAN has launched a new series of papers that look at the development of political parties and movements in […]

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The Networks of Kunduz: A History of Conflict and Their Actors, from 1992 to 2001

Nils Wormer •

A new Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) report by author Nils Wörmer looks at networks of power in Kunduz province. Wörmer writes that when Germany’s political decision makers opted for Kunduz, in north-eastern Afghanistan, as the location for its future Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and soldiers and governmental development workers started to deploy in 2003, they […]

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Beating a Retreat: Prospects for the Transition Process in Afghanistan

Barbara Stapleton •

As NATO member states gather for their summit in Chicago this coming weekend to discuss the security transition in Afghanistan and the prospect for continued engagement, the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) has released a new report exploring the complexities surrounding NATO’s current transition strategy. In the report ‘Beating a Retreat; Prospects for the Transition Process in […]

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Death of an Uruzgan journalist: Command Errors and Collateral Damage

Kate Clark •

An investigation into the fatal shooting of an Afghan journalist by a US soldier raises critical questions about the safety of local reporters working in the field, and the need for greater honesty by ISAF when operations go wrong, according to a new report by AAN’s senior analyst, Kate Clark. Omaid Khpulwak was killed at […]

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Legal Aid in Afghanistan: Contexts, Challenges and the Future

Sarah Han •

In this new briefing paper, lawyer and legal aid expert Sarah Han looks at the historical, legal and political context to the provision of legal aid and describes the efforts of the international community over the past five years to developing funding streams for the accused. The author commends the modest but significant improvements in […]

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The Battle for Schools: The Taleban and State Education

Antonio Giustozzi • Claudio Franco •

This new AAN report by authors Antonio Giustozzi and Claudio Franco looks at the Taleban’s changing attitude towards state education. In the last two years, the Taleban have increasingly allowed schools to operate in areas under their control or influence, but this has come at a price – a more conservative curriculum and more mullahs […]

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The International Community’s Engagement in Afghanistan beyond 2014

AAN Team •

This new discussion paper by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) discusses the challenges for transition and the cost of a hasty and unconditioned international withdrawal. It particularly focuses on security, economy, political framework, reconciliation, governance, human rights and regional politics. The report, which is a result of the collaboration of key AAN contributors, emphasizes that […]

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