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Succeeding in Afghanistan presupposes more than winning a military war. The emergence of a strong Afghan civil society is essential for stabilizing the country. Poverty, a flourishing drug economy, and the lack of education and the rule of law cause concern and hinder the development process. Creating strategies to strengthen Afghan civil society is an integral part of the reconstruction program in Afghanistan.

(Photo: AfghanKabul, cc license)

May 18, 2012 | Anti-Corruption in Afghanistan and Pakistan: What Works and What Doesn't

Ahmad Rashid Jamal: Corruption is a severe problem in many Asian countries, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This paper assesses the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies and accountability in these two countries and asks: Can Anti-corruption Agencies turn into effective organizations? …More

September 13, 2010 | Women's Battle for Participation in Public Life

Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Talking about promoting women’s rights in theory is one thing. The example of Mahnaz on the other hand underlines what precise problems Afgahn girls face in pursuing an education in the real world. A program at Middlebury College shows one way out of the dilemma. …More

September 7, 2010 | Parliamentary Elections and the Security Situation in Afghanistan

Niamatulla S. Sharifi: The outcome of the elections in Afghanistan will determine whether President Karzai will succeed in attaining his goals. However, the continued weakness of the Afghan police and military do not bode well for the safe conduct of the elections. …More

August 6, 2010 | Disfigured Girl Now Face of Afghanistan Campaign

The cover of TIME magazine shows the face of an Afghan girl, whose abusive husband cut off her nose and ears, under the heading “what happens if we leave Afghanistan.” ++ Whether this represents “an appeal to …More

June 1, 2010 | End the Vulture Culture: An Empirical Analysis of the Issue Framing

Catherine Mann: This dissertation was completed as part of an MSc in Global Governance and Ethics, and investigates the way that NGOs attempt to generate public support to create political pressure. …More

May 21, 2010 | International Peacebuilding: An Analysis of Peacemaking in Afghanistan

Timor Sharan: This paper is a critique of recent Liberal Peace inquiries on international peacebuilding. It shows how the failure of the Bonn political settlement in Afghanistan produced negative outcomes that have come to shape the nature of statebuilding in the country. …More

May 13, 2010 | The Burqa Ban - Motiviations, Justifications and Likely Consequences

Eva Maria Krockow: The recent trend of burqa ban is guided by Islamophobia and is counter-productive with regards to the peaceful integration of Muslim immigrants. …More

May 11, 2010 | Asylum and Human Rights: France and the Shocking Treatment of Minors

Claire Schaepelynck: International human rights standards are harmonized at the European Union Level and then implemented in Member States. Nevertheless, those standards are not necessarily respected and France should review its position and its legislation regarding the treatment of children asylum seekers. …More

May 11, 2010 | Haiti Needs a Legit Election

Haiti was supposed to elect a new Parliament but the February earthquake rendered that impossible. ++Tomorrow the current Parliament will end and the country will enter a period of uncertainty, “with enormous obstacles to overcome for a transparent, …More

February 15, 2010 | NATO Provides Alternatives to Insurgents

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: After the London conference, NATO was accused of trying to achieve peace by bribing the Taliban. In this video, the NATO Secretary General says that this is not the case, and that reconciliation and re-integration efforts will provide an alternative path to the Afghan people. …More

February 8, 2010 | Supporting Better Governance

Memo 22: Atlantic-community.org has developed several policy recommendations regarding the international mission in Afghanistan. Members agree that improving the functioning of the state is necessary and that better governance, empowering local institutions must be one of ISAF’s primary goals. …More

January 29, 2010 | Civil Projects Need to Play a Greater Role

Interview with Bente Aika Scheller: Following yesterday’s London Conference, and reflecting the debate currently running on atlantic-community.org, we interviewed the Director of the Boell Foundation’s Kabul office. Dr. Scheller states that along side security, the international community also needs to strengthen Afghan civil society. …More

July 10, 2009 | How to Overcome (Iranian) Dictatorship

History has shown that there are similar scripts utilized by authoritarian regimes to manifest dictatorship. ++ “Invoke a threat…establish a surveillance apparatus…subvert the rule of law.” ++ This procedure applied by Iranian and …More

December 31, 2008 | Islamic Morality In The Battle for Afghan Hearts and Minds

Florian Broschk: The Western effort to conquer “hearts and minds” in Afghanistan is being hindered by a failure to recognize the core role of religion in Afghan society. The West must integrate the language of Islamic morality into its counterinsurgency mission. …More

December 10, 2008 | British Military Frustrated in Afghanistan

The British military are increasingly angered by the poor international effort to win over hearts and minds in Afghanistan. ++ British generals have been arguing for years that getting the population on side is the key to success. ++ …More

December 8, 2008 | A Survey of the Afghan People

Irrespective of slow gains in basic services
as well as little success in reconstruction, the conflict in Afghanistan is
still in full swing. High civilian and military casualties, severe food
shortages, millions of Afghans facing starvation and …More

December 1, 2008 | Elections in Afghanistan - a Potential Tipping Point

Daoud Sultanzoy: Daoud Sultanzoy, an Afghan member of Parliament, gives his impression of the risks that his country runs if it does not connect with its people during the coming elections. A growing list of tribulations the common Afghan faces is enumerated - concerns that military might alone would be hard-pressed to mitigate. …More

November 26, 2008 | Taliban Propaganda and Local Media in Afghanistan

NATO Review: Nick Grono, Deputy President of the International Crisis Group, outlines elements of the Taliban’s media war in Afghanistan, including its strengths, weaknesses, and how to fight back. …More

November 17, 2008 | Train Afghan Strategic Communicators

Nicholas Lunt: ISAF and NATO have tried to speak to Afghans directly in their own language. Previous communication, even when assisted by locals, has led to misunderstandings and conflict. The solution would be to empower locals to speak for ISAF and NATO directly. …More

November 14, 2008 | Fighting Afghanistan's Drug Economy

Sepideh Parsa: Despite efforts to combat the drug production in Afghanistan, figures continue to rise. To avert the threat which arises from the resurgence of terrorist groups, and to ensure international security, the international community has to make a long- term commitment. This paper aims to outline the dynamics of the Afghan drug economy, focusing on the effectiveness of measures carried out under international law. …More

November 12, 2008 | Famine Greater Threat than Insurgents

Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): Bringing food to millions of Afghans can have both strategic and humanitarian results. An operation styled on the Berlin Airlift could also bring new actors to Afghanistan. Likewise, it might be a necessity for keeping the Afghan government afloat, since access to food during famine can determine political allegiances. …More

November 10, 2008 | Samiullah Wardak, EC Delegation to Afghanistan

Mr. Samiullah Wardak was born in Kabul in 1976 and migrated to Pakistan at the age of five. In 2002 he returned to Afghanistan where he had been engaged in reintegration and refugee issues. Mr. Wardak has worked as a program …More

October 28, 2008 | Afghanistan: More Than Troops

Sending more troops to Afghanistan will not solve the country’s many deep-rooted problems. ++ A larger military presence could alienate the local population. ++ Iraq should have taught us that more troops don’t necessarily mean more security, as …More

October 13, 2008 | Hope for Warlordism in Afghanistan, Not Democracy

The Taliban are losing battles in Afghanistan but are winning the war. ++ The situation looks grimmer now than ever before. ++ The war looks it can’t be won, but we must keep trying. ++ NATO can’t win alone, but it …More

October 2, 2008 | Obama Needs Foreign Policy Revamp

Obama’s foreign policy proposals are too vapid; far from incipient or novel, we are subjected to his recycled ideas - which, albeit, were fresh when first espoused in the face of Bush dogmatism. ++ “These ideas have lost their oomph among …More