Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Ali Yawar Adili

The Politics of Survival in the Face of Exclusion: Hazara and Shia actors under the Taleban

Ali Yawar Adili •

Since the Taleban’s return to power, an array of Hazara and Shia Muslim groups and individuals have tried to position themselves vis-à-vis the new order in an effort to protect a community that feels particularly vulnerable. The struggle over who gets to speak for the community has revived old intra-communal rivalries and factionalism, weakened their […]

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A Community Under Attack: How successive governments failed west Kabul and the Hazaras who live there

Ali Yawar Adili •

The Hazara-Shia community in west Kabul city, particularly its sprawling neighbourhood Dasht-e Barchi, has been the target of some of the city’s deadliest attacks, especially since 2016. The community has particularly been hit hard in west Kabul, but Hazaras and Shias have also been persistently targeted elsewhere in Afghanistan. While the former government promised to […]

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Preparing for a Post-Departure Afghanistan: Changing political dynamics in the wake of the US troop withdrawal announcement

Ali Yawar Adili •

It is six weeks since US President Joe Biden announced that all international troops would be withdrawn by September and the reverberations of that announcement are still being felt in Afghan political and security circles. The government has been bullish in public, claiming the country is ready for the departure of the foreign forces. Yet, […]

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The Stagnation of Afghanistan’s State Institutions: Case studies of the Supreme Court, Senate, provincial councils and the constitutional oversight commission

Ali Yawar Adili • Rohullah Sorush • Sayed Asadullah Sadat •

This report looks at the legal framework, status and trajectory of four important state institutions, both elected and appointed: the Supreme Court, Senate, provincial councils and the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution (ICOIC). According to the Afghan constitution, these institutions should play significant roles in providing checks and balances, accountability, representation […]

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Afghanistan’s Divided Republican “Front”

Thomas Ruttig • Ali Yawar Adili •

ISPI online, 26 January 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig and Ali Yawar Adili have co-authored an article for an Afghanistan dossier published on the website of the Italian Institute for the Study of International Politics (ISPI), dealing with the composition of the ‘Islamic Republic of Afghanistan team’ at the intra-Afghan negotiations with the Taleban that started […]

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Intra-Afghan Talks (1): Rules of procedure agreed, but still no agenda as talks resume

Ali Yawar Adili •

The second round of intra-Afghan negotiations – as they are officially called – is scheduled to begin in two days time, on 5 January 2021, in Doha. The first round ended on 14 December after three months of talks. During that time, the teams managed only to agree on the rules of procedure for the […]

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new cabinet

Afghanistan’s New ­– But Still Incomplete Cabinet: No end yet to acting ministers

Ali Yawar Adili • Rohullah Sorush •

The Lower House of Afghanistan’s parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, has confirmed 20 out of 25 cabinet nominees proposed by the government and rejected the remaining five. The confirmation of the cabinet nominees comes more than a year after the presidential election, almost nine months after President Ashraf Ghani’s inauguration and almost seven months since the […]

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Girls actually in the classroom. Getting Afghan children, especially girls, to school, has been considered a major success story for post-Taleban Afghanistan, but how many children appearing in the statistics are ‘ghosts'? (Photo: Christine-Felice Roehrs)

Less Money, More Conditionality? Stalled peace, Covid-19 and corruption foretell a sombre Afghanistan donor conference

Christine Roehrs • AAN Team • Ali Yawar Adili •

On 23 and 24 November, the 2020 donor conference for Afghanistan takes place, which for the country matters more than ever. Rumours abound about cuts to foreign assistance, at a time when Afghanistan faces a stalled peace process and intensifying poverty and violence. Donors are concerned about the shape of the future state and corruption, with the pressure […]

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Afghanistan’s 2019 Elections (31): A review of the disputed presidential election and its aftermath

Ali Yawar Adili •

On the first anniversary of Afghanistan’s fourth – and much disputed – presidential election of the post-Taleban order, we look back at the events surrounding the election and its aftermath to provide a concluding overview. AAN’s Ali Yawar Adili reviews what happened before, during and after the election, looks at the votes that swung the […]

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Two Parties Too Wary for Peace? Central questions for talks with the Taleban in Doha

Christine Roehrs • Ali Yawar Adili • Sayed Asadullah Sadat •

For the first time, representatives of the Afghan government and the Taleban are coming together, officially and in person, to negotiate power-sharing and peace.  While the start of the talks was somewhat delayed by disagreements on the last prisoners to be released, the negotiating teams in Doha are now ready to go.  But there are big questions […]

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Peace Leadership: Power struggles, division and an incomplete council

Ali Yawar Adili •

Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, has approved a 46-member Leadership Committee for the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), but criticisms have come in hard and fast from all quarters. The most significant rejection has come from Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who asserts his right under the power-sharing agreement to lead the peace process, including making appointments […]

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Doors Opened for Direct Talks with the Taleban: The results of the Loya Jirga on prisoners and peace

Thomas Ruttig • Ali Yawar Adili • Obaid Ali •

The three-day Consultative Peace Loya Jirga held in Kabul from 17-19 Asad 1399 (7-9 August 2020) has opened the way for the Afghan government to release a final 400 Taleban prisoners from government jails, thereby removing the last obstacle blocking direct peace talks with the Taleban. The jirga delegates did not question the stark choice the government […]

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