What We're Reading

July 2017 | Afghanistan

For the month of July, the RESOLVE Network team’s “What We’re Reading” post features research focused on concepts related to governance, ideas, individuals, and violence in the country of Afghanistan.  Many of the articles below informed our two latest Network Working Papers: Mining the Gaps and The Governance Nexus.  These publications investigate the nature of governance, international involvement, and counterinsurgency; explore trends in radicalization and extremist belief; offer a window into the different extremist groups and populations; and further explore the character of violence in the South and Central Asian state. Click the links below to view the documents.

 

The Political Economy of Governance

Giustozzi, Antonio. “The Taliban’s ‘Military Courts.’” Small Wars & Insurgencies 25, no. 2 (2014). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592318.2014.903638?needAccess=true   

Hakimi, Aziz. “Getting Savages to Fight Barbarians: Counterinsurgency and the Remaking of Afghanistan.” Central Asian Survey 32, no. 3 (2013). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02634937.2013.843300  

Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou. “Regional Responses to Radicalization in Afghanistan Obstacles, Opportunities and an Agenda for Action.” March 2016. Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). http://www.fmsh.fr/sites/default/files/fichier/tadjbakhsh_s_2016_regional_responses_to_radicalization_in_afghanistan_prio_paper.pdf  

Thier, Alex, and Scott Worden. “Political Stability in Afghanistan: A 2020 Vision and Roadmap.” June 2016. U.S. Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/07/political-stability-afghanistan-2020-vision-and-roadmap  

Communicating Belief

Ahmadi, Belquis. “Afghan Youth and Extremists: Why Are Extremists’ Narratives So Appealing?.” August 2015. U.S. Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2015/08/afghan-youth-and-extremists  

Gopal, Anand, and Alex Strick van Linschoten. “Ideology in the Afghan Taliban.” June 2017. Afghanistan Analysts Network. https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/201705-AGopal-ASvLinschoten-TB-Ideology.pdf 

Muhammad, Idrees. “Radicalization and Violent Extremism in Central Asia and Afghanistan.” September 2016. OSCE Academy in Bishkek. http://osce-academy.net/upload/file/41BRIEF.PDF  

Kamel, Kareem. “Understanding Taliban Resurgence: Ethno-Symbolism and Revolutionary Mobilization.” Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 15, no. 1 (2015). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sena.12128/abstract  

Intervention Demographics

Dearing, Matthew. “Like Red Tulips at Springtime: Understanding the Absence of Female Martyrs in Afghanistan.’” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 33, no. 12 (2010). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2010.523861  

Johnson, Thomas. “Taliban Adaptations and Innovations.’” Small Wars & Insurgencies 24, no. 1 (2007). http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/50891/Johnson_Taliban_adaptations_and_innovations.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 

McNally, Lauren, Alex Amiral, Marvin Weinbaum, and Antoun Issa. “The Islamic State in Afghanistan: Examining its Threat to Stability.” May 2016. Middle East Institute. http://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/publications/PF12_McNallyAmiral_…;

Political Violence

Farrell, Theo, and Antonio Giustozzi. “The Taliban at War: Inside the Helmand Insurgency, 2004–2012.” International Affairs 89, no. 4 (2013). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2346.12048/abstract   

Jardine, Eric, and Simon Palamar. “Numerous, Capable, and Well-Funded Rebels: Insurgent Military Effectiveness and Deadly Attacks in Afghanistan.” Terrorism and Political Violence 27, no. 4 (2015). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546553.2013.847826   

Rome, Henry. “Revisiting the “Problem from Hell: Suicide Terror in Afghanistan.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 36, no. 10 (2013). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2013.823752  

Schutte, Sebastian. “Violence and Civilian Loyalties: Evidence from Afghanistan.” Journal of Conflict Resolution (2016). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022002715626249?journalCode=jcrb