Please note: the websites that these reports are taken from often contain many more reports that you may find useful. See also the links page.
This page provides links to recent reports and surveys on issues likely to be of interest to students of Afghanistan, particularly those studying current affairs. Once again, please use the comment form if there are any you’d like to submit.
Society
Afghanistan in 2011: A Survey of the Afghan People - The seventh edition of the Asia Foundation’s national survey, assessing Afghan opinion in all 34 provinces.
Afghanistan in 2010: A Survey of the Afghan People – The sixth edition of the Asia Foundation’s national survey, the biggest of its kind, assessing Afghan public opinion in all 34 provinces.
‘Doing Pashto’, Afghanistan Analyst Network report on Pashtunwali and its transformation in recent years (March 2011).
Conflict and Peacebuilding
Hearts, Minds and the Barrel of a Gun - A paper by Antonio Giustozzi on Taliban ‘shadow’ government.
Healing the Legacies of Conflict in Afghanistan: Community Voices on Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation - An AREU paper by Emily Winterbotham (January 2012).
Thirty Years of Conflict: Drivers of Anti-Govenrment Mobilisation in Afghanistan, 1978-2011 – A paper for AREU by Antonio Giustozzi and Niamatullah Ibrahini (January, 2012)
Peace from the Bottom Up? The Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme – A PRIO paper by Deedee Derksen, PhD student at the KCL Department of War Studies (September 2011).
A Knock on the Door: 22 Months of ISAF Press Releases - An Afghanistan Analysts Network report by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn that builds a database of ISAF’s Kill/Capture missions revealing disparities in trends across the country as well as providing insight into the terminology ISAF is using and suggesting a ‘networked’ strategy in their prosecution of such missions (October 2011).
The Cost of Kill/Capture: Impact of the Night Raid Surge on Afghan Civilians - Open Society Foundation Report (September, 2011)
Aid and Conflict in Afghanistan – International Crisis Group report (August, 2011).
The Haqqani Nexus and the Evolution of al Qa’ida – A Combatting Terrorism Center report based on extensive primary source material.
The Insurgents of the Afghan North – Antonio Giustozzi and Christoph Reuter in an Afghan Analysts Network report (May, 2011, reflects the situation as of Autumn 2010).
The Battle for Afghanistan: Militancy and Conflict in Kandahar – NAF report by Anad Gopal (November, 2010).
Negotiating with the Taliban: Towards a Solution for the Afghan Conflict – Taletbek Masadykov et al., LSE Crisis States Research Centre (November, 2010).
The Battle for Afghanistan: Militancy and Conflict in Zabul and Uruzgan – New America Foundation report by Martine van Bijlert (14 September, 2010).
The Battle for Afghanistan: Militancy and Conflict in Helmand – New America Foundation report by Jean MacKenzie (14 September, 2010).
Mid Year Report 2010 Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict – UNAMA Human Rights section report on civilian casualties in 2010 (August 2010).
‘A Force in Fragments: Reconstituting the Afghan National Army’ – ICG report on the ANA (12 May, 2010).
‘Appraising Moshtarak: The Campaign in Nad-e-Ali District, Afghanistan’ – A RUSI Briefing Note authored by Prof Theo Farrell, Professor of War in the Modern World, King’s College London.
Financing the Taliban: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan – A New America Foundation report by Catherine Collins and Ashraf Ali.
‘Improvised Explosive Devices in Southern Afghanistan and Western Pakistan, 2002-2009′, Alex D. Barker, New America Foundation – A detailed report on IED trends (April 2010).
Governance
‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Counter-narcotics efforts and their effects in Nangarhar and Helmand in the 2010-11 growing season’, David Mansfield, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (October 2011).
‘Local Governance in Afghanistan: A View from the Ground’, Douglas Saltmarshe and Abhilash Medhi, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit paper (June 2011).
‘Deconstructing Democracy in Afghanistan’, Anna Larson, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit research paper on the meaning of democracy for the Afghan population (May, 2011).
The AREU A-Z Guide to Afghanistan Assistance, a key guide to the terms, structures, mechanisms and coordinating bodies central to the Afghanistan relief effort. Includes a contact list for key agencies and actors; an overview of Afghanistan’s system of government; analysis of the 2009-10 election cycle, and up to date maps of Afghanistan and its key cities.
‘Community-Based Dispute Resolution Practices in Kabul City’, Rebecca Gang, AREU (March 2011).
‘Building Afghan Peace from the Ground Up’, Marika Theros and Mary Kaldor, Century Foundation (March 2011). Afghan perspectives on the state and governance.
‘Means to What End: Policymaking and State-building in Afghanistan’, Sarah Parkinson, AREU (November 2010).
‘How America Corrupted Afghanistan: Time to Look in the Mirror’, Anthony Cordesman, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (September, 2010).
Afghanistan’s Peace and Reconciliation Plan: Can it Work? – Tazreena Sajjad, AREU (October, 2010).
Capacity-Building Through Policymaking: Developing Afghanistan’s National Education Strategic Plan, Dana Holland, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (October, 2010).
‘Who controls the vote? Afghanistan’s evolving elections’ - Martine van Bijlert’s report for the Afghanistan Analyst’s Network on the 2009 Provincial Elections and the lessons for future polls (September, 2010).
‘Corruption in Afghanistan: Bribery as Reported by the Victims’ – A UNODC Survey (January, 2010).
‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Assessing the Sustainability of Current Reductions in Poppy Production in Afghanistan’ – An AREU report on efforts to reduce opium production in Afghanistan.
Justice
Legacies of Conflict: Healing Complexes and Moving Forward in Kabul, Ghazni, and Bamiyan Provinces - A series of reports from the AREU (n.b. this links to the Kabul report, October 2011).
‘Reforming Afghanistan’s Broken Judiciary’ – International Crisis Group Report (17, November 2010).
‘Traditional Dispute Resolution and Stability in Afghanistan’ – United States Institute of Peace Report (Feb, 2010).
‘Between the Jirga and the Judge: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Afghanistan’ – A short TLO/USIP report using the case study of the Commission of Conflict Mediation in Khost, giving very interesting insights into the possibility of hybridized alternative justice and mediation mechanisms.
November 20, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Prof Theo Farrell has to understand despite appraising Op Moshtarak,the coalition forces (ISAF) is facing stiff and fierce resistance from the Taliban and will continue to do so.
the reasons for this are evinced below:
1.unless opium farming and production is eradicated, prevalent in those parts of Afghanistan ,the Taliban will have a viable source of income to purchase arms and cadre to continue the insurgency.
2. Your supply lines are the Achilles heel of your forces, as the Taliban operating in Pakistan will harass your lines of communication, forcing you to worry more on getting hold of your supplies,than concentrating in finshing the Taliban, the same manner the soviets had to concentrate their forces on convoy protection.
3.unless the ANA is leading the fight from he front, ISAF will be seen as a invader.