Essential Issues

  • The Taliban - Insurgency
  • Security - Terrorism
  • Regional Actors
  • Democracy - Governance
  • Narcotics
  • Women and Children
  • Peace Process
  • Agriculture-Environment
  • Refugees and IDPs
  • Media and communication



The Taliban - The Insurgency

  • Reports
Reintegrating Afghan insurgents
RAND Corporation | July 2011

The Insurgency in Afghanistan's Heartland
The International Crisis Group | June 27

Resolving Insurgencies
Strategic Studies Institute US Army War College | June 17

Afghanistan: The Impossible Transition
Carnegie Endowment | June

Separating the Taliban from al-Qaeda: The core of success in Afghanistan
Center on International Cooperation | February 2011
  • Papers
Afghan insurgents Go Viral [Hejratullah Ekhtiyar]
Institute for War and Peace Reporting | June 23

Rebranding the Taliban
Center for Conflict and Peace Studies
  • Book reviews
Kim Barker's The Taliban Shuffle by Christine Fair
The Huffington Post | June 7

Regional Actors
  • Reports
Pakistan, the United States and the End Game in AfghanistanJinnah Institute | August 26

Involving Central Asia in Afghanistan's Future: What can Europe do?
EUCAM-FRIDE | August 2011

Post-War on Terror: implications from a regional perspective
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Center | August 2011

South India: strategic challenges confronting the U.S.
South Asia Analysis | July 18

India's role in Afghanistan
International Institute for Strategic Studies

  • Interview
The complicated U.S. relationship with Pakistan
Carnegie Endowment | May 13

Drug Traffic
  • Reports
Afghanistan after 2014: the Narco-dimension
Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale



The Global Afghan opium trade: a threat assessment
UNODC | July 29Russia's Afghan Addiction
Canadian Center for Investgative Reporting | July 25

Opium poppy strikes back: The 2011 return of opium in Balkh and Badakhshan provinces
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit | July 3rd

Helmand Case Study - Managing Concurrent and Repeated Risks: Explaining the Reductions in Opium Production in Central Helmand between 2008 and 2011
Alcis | 2011

Refugees and IDPs

Information on the targeting of Tajiks by Talibans in Badakhshan Province; general security situation
UNHCR | August 4

Media and communication

Afghanistan: Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide
ASAID | March 2011
Security - Terrorism
  • Reports
The Haqqani Nexus and the Evolution of al-Qaeda
Combating Terrorism Center | July 20th

Patterns in terrorism in North Africa, the Middle-East, Central Asia and South Asia: 2007-2010
Center for Strategic and International Studies | June 29

Afghanistan Index 2011 - Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-9/11 Afghanistan
Brookings Institution  | June 16

Central Asian Security Trends: Views from Europe and Russia
Strategic Studies Institute US Army War College | April 19

Global Peace Index - Afghanistan
Institute for Economics and Peace | 2011

  • Papers
Terrorism and Civil War in South Asia
Georgetown University Center for Peace and Security Studies | May 24

Democracy - Governance
  • Reports
Governance and the Representation in the Afghan Urban Transition
AREU | August

Hajigak: The jewels of Aghan mines
Integrity Watch Afghanistan | July 10

Afghanistan - Assessing Democracy Assistance
FRIDE | May 25

Local Governance in Afghanistan - A view from the ground
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit | June

Deconstructing "Democracy" in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit | May

A first step on a long journey: How People Define Violence and Justice in
Afghanistan (1958-2008)
Afghan Civil Society Forum-organization (ACSFo) | March

Women and Children
  • Reports
Children affected by armed conflict in Afghanistan
UNICEF, Save the Children | December


Devastating Impact: Explosive weapons and children
Save The Children | August

Summary Report on Investigation of Causes and Factors of Trafficking in Women and Children
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission | July

An Analysis of women's participation in the Afghan peace process
The Human Security Gateway | July 5

Improving the protection of Women and Girls during armed conflicts
Geneva Call | Results of the December 2010 workshop

Bridging the Accountability Gap: New Approaches to Addressing Violations Against Children in Armed Conflict
Conflict Dynamics | June

Peace Process

The Politics of Dispute Resolution and Continued Instability in Afghanistan
USIP | August 9

Afghan civil society and a comprehensive peace process
USIP | July 28

Agriculture & Environment

Afghanistan Food Security Outlook - July to December 2011
USAID | July