Mobile Money in Afghanistan - The Tech Revolution that Never Was
2018-04-25
By Nafay Choudhury
In 2012, Time Magazine published an article on how “Afghanistan Is on the Leading Edge of a Tech Revolution”.[1] Mobile money, it was claimed, would fundamentally transform Afghan society from supposedly pre-modern conditions to one where average citizens would be connected with the wider fina
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How Economic Growth Can Help Defeat Terrorism in Afghanistan
2018-04-19
By M. Ashraf Haidari
Syria, North Korea, and Yemen have largely dominated headlines. But Afghanistan also remains in the global conscience. If anything, the much-needed international focus on the campaign against the Taliban has outlined how difficult the fight has become, despite our steady military gains. Frustrated with what many are mistakenly calling a quagmire, internat
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Mapping Terrorism in Afghanistan
2018-03-13
By Omar Sadr
Typology of the Terrorist Groups
An atmosphere of ambiguity surrounds the understanding of the nature of conflict and typology of organizations involved in terrorist activities in Afghanistan. With the absence of a vibrant and dynamic academia, the public sphere is covered by media, aid-driven civil society and parochial ethno-nationalist lobbies. The media has provided space f
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How to Win the Drug War in Afghanistan
2018-03-07
By M. Ashraf Haidari
This past November, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its annual survey of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan for 2017. As ever, the survey’s findings are hardly surprising. They reflect the periodic fluctuations in the amount of opium poppy cultivated and produced in the country. Last year, cultivation increased to 328,000 hectares and production to nine tho
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