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Terrorist Activities are the World’s Worst Threat
August 13, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
The extreme growth of terror and terrorist activity has begun to worry the whole world. The growing rates of terrorist activity in Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world have become a bold challenge for the world at large. To end the terrorist activity from the face of the earth, the world's leaders must give it a top priority. In twenty ...
Sinister Western Designs for Pakistan and the Afghan War
August 11, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The fate of the war in Afghanistan and by extension, the fate of Afghanistan as a nation is increasingly being tied to Pakistan's internal situation and whether that country will be able to successfully pull itself through the multitude of crises that are laying siege on it. While many of Pakistan's internal challenges such ...
Mothers are Still Vulnerable in Afghanistan
August 11, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
To begin, I shall honor every mother of this country Afghanistan and all the mothers in the world at large. We are supposed not to overlook the importance of mother, the "Master of all of us" the ones who have devoted their each moment to make sure that we feel relax and secure. Mothers are indeed the true gift of God. And we must respect ...
Institution Vs Individual
August 11, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The incapacity of human beings to live alone on their own has made them live in the form of groups. The interdependence of human beings has made them interact and communicate with one another and has brought them closer. This phenomenon has led to the formation of societies, wherein people live with co-operation and assistance of fellow ...
Bonn 2nd - an Extraordinary Opportunity for Reconciliation Process
August 10, 2011 | Ahmad Shah Katawazai
Fifth December, will be another important event in Afghanistan's history where Afghans and the In ternational Community will get together to mark the 10th anniversary of the decade long war and decide on the fate of the country at very critical times when transition process is ongoing, Afghans have taken responsibility ...
Afghan Handicrafts
August 10, 2011 | Dilawar Sharzai
Every culture in the world consists of two major parts; material culture and non-material culture. The material culture includes all the tangible objects that are socially used in a society. The material culture may include cloth, jewelry, pottery and other objects that are a part of a society, while the non-material culture may include the ....
Nuclear Weapons are Designed to Crush Mankind
August 10, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
Since 1945, the first nuclear weapons have been developed across the globe for the sake of human protection and the future human related risks. We are quite confident of our destructive inventions, whatever we gain or invent is called civilization, the nuclear weapon which is only designed to crush the mankind and eradicate the sign of ...
Obstacles to Investment in Afghanistan
August 09, 2011 | Sher Ali Yecah
Afghanistan is the victim of the three decades of what is called the foreign-imposed war. After the Taliban was toppled in late 2001 as result of US-led invasion, a new window of hope and affluence opened for Afghanistan. One of the areas under international focus was to boost up Afghan economy by encouraging investments. Encouraging the ...
The Future of Afghanistan, an Opportunity and a Responsibility for Youth
August 09, 2011 | Staffan De Mistura
Afghan youth are growing up at a critical moment in Afghanistan. This country is at a crossroad between continuing conflict and ongoing dialogue. As I travel around the country speaking to young men and women engaged in civil society I am increasingly told – this is not the country we want, we want better, we can ...
Who is Setting the Agenda for Another International Conference on Afghanistan in Bonn?
August 09, 2011 | Frogh Wazhma
These days the hot topic in the 'elite and expatriate bubble' of Kabul is the Bonn II Conference. Analysts, experts and diplomats come up with different perspectives and predictions about whether this event will change Afghanistan's roadmap or just be one more international conference on Afghanistan. However, the recent news is that the ...
Rumors of Emergency Rule and the Parliamentary Crisis
Abass Daiyar | August 08, 2011
The rumor and news reports of President Karzai thinking to impose emergency rule in the wake of standoff with parliament spread fast among the political circles of Kabul. There were quick reactions, but before it becomes more of credible news, sources from the Palace had jumped in and denied. It was the ...
Futile Efforts and Utilization of Resources
August 08, 2011 | Dilawar Sharzai
"Despite billions of dollars in aid, state institutions remain fragile and unable to provide good governance, deliver basic services to the majority of the population or guarantee human security," says a report on Afghanistan by International Crisis Group (ICG) released earlier this week. Definitely the circumstances in the country...
Govt. Needs Accountability in Terms of Peace & Political Stability
August 08, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
Living in the ruins of 4 decades of war we have only seen the temper of bloodshed, abhorrence and destruction, disability and desperation, not stability and progress. The aggressive darkness of the so-called policy is never the whole story, yet it is the outset that has begun to end not in a prognosticated period. Every citizen of a country tries ...
Cultural Lag and Afghan Society
August 07, 2011 | Dilawar Sharzai
A society tends to suffer from cultural lag when there is a considerable gap between the material culture and non-material culture of the society. The cultural lag basically results from speedy developments in material aspect of the culture, while the non-material culture tends to move slower. The material culture basically includes ...
The Threat of High Inflation and Rising Prices
August 07, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The economy of Afghanistan remains extremely vulnerable to a surge in inflation rates. Inflation, manifested in the increase in prices of goods, commodities and essentials services, is one of the most important causes of destruction of people's purchasing power and decrease in the standard of living of people. In the context of ...
Living Under Wraps
August 07, 2011 | Farman Nawaz
Last day I was reading a newspaper when I saw an advertisement of State Bank of Pakistan. It was a kind of notification for general public to inform them about ban on the usage of old currency notes of five hundred rupees after October 10, 2011. I keenly observed the images of the old and new currency notes and tried to find the apparent ...
Irrationality at its Worst
August 06, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
A roundtable discussion was organized by the Afghanistan Regional Studies Center this Tuesday to talk about the Bonn Conference. Some political analysts, most of whom were pro-Karzai folks, made speeches about the coming conference. Political analysts say that only Afghan government representatives should attend the second Bonn Conference...
Social Stratification and Afghan Society
August 06, 2011 | Dilawar Sharzai
The social and political changes in Afghanistan, in the post-Taliban scenario, have been able to cast diverse effects on Afghan society. Among different changes the stratification of society into rich and power classes is a dominant one. The differences have been intensified and are affecting the society as a whole. It has not been the ...
Good Governance – A Must for Afghanistan
August 06, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
There can be little doubt that ultimately, over the long run, the best defense against the Taliban and rampant culture of militancy and extremism is "good governance". This relatively new concept has come to be widely accepted as one of the most important preconditions for the development and progress of any country whether in the ...
Haqqani Network More Dangerous than Taliban
August 04, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
In recent months, the name of one terror group has consistently grabbed the headlines and the lethality of its schemes and suicide bombings have terrorized the people in Kabul, Jalalabad and elsewhere. The feared Haqqani network has been behind most of the suicide bombings and armed assaults in cities and towns throughout Eastern Afghanistan ...
The Holy Month of Ramadan is to Show Compassion & Mercy
August 04, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
All our praise is due to Allah Almighty. We are committed to pray him and seek his guidance, compassion, mercy and ask him help to show us the right path where there is love mercy and forgiveness. And repent to him for our wrong and inhuman evil deeds and actions against his will and against the will of human ...
Afghanistan and the “Arc of Crisis”
August 03, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
Terrorism, extremism and militancy are the three foremost challenges that threaten the collective peace, stability and prosperity of the countries in the broader region of which Afghanistan is an important part. Of all the countries that are scattered throughout the South Asia to Central Asia corridor, including ...
Separation of Powers
August 03, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
Every modern state stands on four basic pillars also termed as organs of the state. These include Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Media. Media has been considered as one of the pillars in modern world as the role of media in the state affairs has gained much importance. In the developed countries of the world, wherein media has ...
Living on the Edge of Machinery
August 03, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
When the world was created, there was no technology, but yet MAN ond. MAN walked on barefoot and travelled miles, and then MAN started to realize that it would be much better if important else did the trekking, so he could sit and enjoy the ride. So MAN started to mount donkeys, from donkeys to horses to camels. When the man got to the ...
A Wave of Drought and Famine Killing Silently
August 02, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
As if the daily high dose of death and violence is not enough, the long dry spell in central regions of the country as well as some Northern provinces, evident in past winter and spring's less than satisfactory rainfall, is now wreaking havoc with people's farmlands and food security across these areas. Bamyan, Maidan Wardak and Daikundi in the center ...
Reconciliation and Transition
August 02, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The security situation in Afghanistan is not getting any better as the terrorists have further intensified their assaults. Only, the ongoing month of Ramadan can be a hope for a break in sanguinary incidents, but that can not be a substitute for a lasting peace. The concerned authorities should carry out necessary measures to curb the ...
Climate Change Must be Given Priority Before it is too Late
August 02, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
Today the climate of the world is changing faster than ever before. The climate shift started to show its real face both on the geo-diversity and bio-diversity. Currently, mainly the reports and news stories relate to the very changes in bio-diversity and its uncertain impacts on the availability of food, air and ...
Socio-political Changes and Afghan Transition
August 01, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
>The course of history in different societies and states has been dominantly guided by social and political changes. These changes have been able to attract the attentions of social and political scientists to a large extent as they are responsible for the evolution of society and states. Social scientists mostly strive to find out the trends in...
Why a Breakthrough is Unlikely at Bonn II
August 01, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
Recently I have written several op-eds on the talks about talks with the Taliban, political settlement and the coming Bonn Conference II in December. Below is a guest post of mine published at the Afghanistan Analysts Network reflecting on the same topics with some updates and different questions. The Bonn conference of 2001 has been a ...
Targeted Assassinations
August 01, 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
Another grand loss for the President Karzia's government! On Wednesday July 27, a suicide attack took life of the Kandahar city mayor, Mr. Ghulam Haidar Hamidi, in the municipality complex. He is the second high-ranking official targeted by suicide attacker of Taliban militants, after assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzia, half brother of...
Afghanistan and the Region: A Shared Destiny
Mehdi Rezaie | July 31, 2011
>Afghanistan is situated in a particularly tough regional environment. This environment is characterized by various state and non-state actors, both regional and extra-regional that result in the geo-political and security equilibrium in the region to be fragile and prone to disturbance at the slightest of provocations. Perhaps, Afghanistan is one of the few...
The Plight of the Refugees
July 31, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
In many countries of the world because of different sorts of social and political problems, people are forced to leave their countries and move to other parts of the world in search of better lives and opportunities. Such people can be termed as refugees. According to the Geneva Refugee Convention, a refugee is defined as, "A person with ...
Farewell to a Friend of Afghanistan
July 31, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
Saying goodbye to a friend, colleague or just a person you know somehow is hard. But going through the same experience, I know it's harder for a person himself who is taking departure from a place after years living there as his second-home. One's feelings get attached to all things related to that place and the people, and the ...
Averting a Post-2014 Economic Downfall
July 30, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
Robert Zoellick, the World Bank's President, in an article published in Washington Post, has been the latest public figure to warn about the future of Afghanistan's economy in the wake of the withdrawal of international forces. According to World Bank's chief, the theme of often-repeated and much-cautioned economic downfall in a post-2014 ...
“A lone Wolf” andMulticulturalism
July 30, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
Well, the tragic incident in Oslo, Norway can never and should never end with a conclusion that as there had not been evident connections of the culprit Breivik with the far right organizations in Europe, therefore it was a sole-effort and the threats of far right extremist views are meager. Even if it was a sole-effort, it must not ...