Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment

Thomas Ruttig •

ISPI, 12 August 2025 AAN contributed two contributions to a dossier, “Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment” by free lance journalist and long-time Afghanistan watcher Giuliano Battiston and published by ISPI, the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) in Rome. First, under the title “Back to […]

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Untergrundschulen und Online-Kurse: Trotz Taliban-Verboten halten Aktivist*innen in Afghanistan Nischen offen, in denen Frauen und Mädchen weiter Zugang zu Bildung haben

Thomas Ruttig •

Südlink, June 2026: Article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig for the German NGO INKOTA Network’s north-south magazine (in German), looking at the last niches kept open by activists for women and girls to still be able to access education in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan: underground schools and online courses. While the former are illegal, although often Taleban officials […]

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Themenschwerpunkt Afghanistan: Politisch gefestigt, wirtschaftlich auf wackligen Beinen, humanitär katastrophal 

Thomas Ruttig •

Asylmagazin 3/2026: AAN’s Thomas Ruttig contributed a comprehensive analysis of the current political, socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan for the German-based specialised magazine that provides up-to-date background information on legal issues surrounding the topics of flight and migration that are relevant for lawyers and NGOs providing advice to refugees and asylum seekers and […]

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Obituary for Sultan Ali Keshtmand (1935-2026): Afghanistan’s Soviet-era political leader and Hazara rights advocate

Thomas Ruttig •

Few Afghan politicians from the era of the Soviet-backed People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) regime combined technocratic skill with a clear focus on combatting ethnic inequality, as Sultan Ali Keshtmand did. Born into a modest Hazara family, he rose to the top echelons of the party, navigating imprisonment, internal PDPA purges and shifting Soviet […]

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Between Reform and Repression: The 60th anniversary of the PDPA 

Thomas Ruttig •

The leftist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) irrevocably altered the country’s trajectory with its coup d’état in 1978, setting off a chain of events that would have lasting repercussions. The debate surrounding the extent of the Soviet Union’s influence on the party prior to this, as well as Moscow’s desire to see its rise to […]

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The Khost Rebellion of 1924: The centenary of an overlooked but significant episode in Afghan history

Thomas Ruttig • David X Noack •

A hundred years ago, tribes led by local mullahs in the area around the town of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan rose up against King Amanullah and his modernisation programme. These events became known as the ‘Khost’ or ‘Mangal’ Rebellion, named after the region where it erupted and the Pashtun tribe that was first to revolt. […]

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Birds of a Feather, in Ideology: What is the relationship between the Islamic Emirate and Hamas?

Thomas Ruttig •

Before the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s continuing war in Gaza, the relationship of the Islamic Emirate towards Hamas could be described as cordial, but not actively supportive. AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (with input from Roxanna Shapour) wanted to look at whether this standpoint has changed since those attacks. By combing […]

Regional Relations Read more

No Climate Change Deniers: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan goes to COP29, as an observer

Thomas Ruttig •

The 29th UN Climate Change Conference, or COP29, which was hosted by the Republic of Azerbaijan, concluded on 24 November 2024 in Baku, with a delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in attendance. This was the first time the Emirate had participated in a UN-organised conference on climate, but only as an observer. The […]

International Engagement Read more

Between Facing Reality and Saving Face: Interim report of the German parliament on the Afghan mission

Thomas Ruttig •

Germany “strategically failed” in Afghanistan. This is the main finding of a scathing interim report commissioned by the country’s parliament to scrutinise Germany’s entire military and civilian mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. Germany has always prided itself on having been the second largest bilateral donor and troop contributor to Afghanistan, but the report […]

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Försiktigt kinesiskt engagemang i Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

Swedish Afghanistan Committee, 18 December 2023 This is an abbreviated translation into Swedish of Thomas Ruttig’s Septemr 2023 AAN report, titled “Chinese Investments in Afghanistan: Strategic economic move or incentive for the Emirate?” on the Swedish Committee’s website.

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Erdbeben in Herat: Die Naturkatastrophe in West-Afghanistan trifft die Schwächsten

Thomas Ruttig •

Blätter des iz3w, 11 December 2023 This article is an overview about the October 2023 series of earthquakes in Herat, its repercussions for the local population and the response to it by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, written for the ‘Blätter’ which is one of the longest-standing German NGO journals on north-south relations (in German).

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Whose Seat Is It Anyway: The UN’s (non)decision on who represents Afghanistan 

Thomas Ruttig •

While the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) maintains that it deserves full-scale recognition, it has not been given the country’s seat at the United Nations. In early December 2023, the UN General Assembly will again consider whether or not to allow the Islamic Emirate to take Afghanistan’s seat at the world body. The argument plays […]

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