Afghanistan

"Just as deities often resemble their worshippers through anthropomorphic iconic representations and human-like emotions, so too, like humans, do they progress through their careers in stages. They attain higher stations within pantheons; gain new powers and attributes; or altogether change company through incorporation with a different group. On the other hand, some lose prestige; are demoted from previously higher positions; or are eliminated from pantheons completely.
In this paper we will examine the career of one such deity. From his obscure beginnings in the Indo-European pantheons of the Ponitc Steppe through his many and multifaceted transitions during the various migrations of the Indo-Iranian and Indo-Āryan peoples, we will track his journey as he spreads throughout Asia in his manifestations as Yima, Yama, and Imrā."

The last decade has marked the purported end of several conflicts in South Asia: the 2003 ceasefire along the Indo–Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir, the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the civil war between Maoist insurgents and state forces in Nepal, the 2009 LTTE defeat in Sri Lanka, and the imminent withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. This Hot Spots series explores the implications of “post-conflict” as an analytical and political category by situating recent South Asian experiences within broader anthropological debates over social, political, and economic transformation. As anthropologists, we go beyond the evaluative assessments of peace-building and human-rights reports to reveal the complexities of life and politics in the gray areas between war and peace. In so doing, these essays acknowledge the everyday effects of the post-conflict label beyond the technocratic mechanisms that seek to define it and declare resolution, yielding important insights for policymakers and development actors, as well as scholars from a range of policy-engaged disciplines. We invite you to join the conversation.

While conventional wisdom holds that reintegrating ex-combatants into society is a post-conflict activity, ISAF’s commander, General John Allen, sees removing fighters from the battlefield through reintegration and the resolution of local grievances as a means of ‘decomposing’ the insurgency in Afghanistan. John Alexander argues that the combination of the Afghan-led Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme with ISAF and Afghan military pressure, as well as divisions within the Taliban over peace talks, provides the ingredients for accelerating reintegration in Afghanistan.

Informal justice structures continue to play a significant role in dispute resolution across Kunduz province and Afghanistan in general. However, they can not work without cooperation and partnership with formal counterparts such as the Police and the Judiciary. We need to understand the importance of capacity building and development of the Police and Judiciary to enhance their roles in communities for better partnership with the traditional institutions.

""В публикации представлена и проанализирована «Докладная записка о деятельности общества «Ашарихуль-Исламия»» (1928 г.), созданная Восточным отделом ОГПУ. В ней содержится уникальный материал о деятельности исламских организаций, секты ахмадийцев в тюрко-татарской эмигрантской среде европейских государств в конце 1920-х гг., а также о роли подобных формирований в российской политике по отношению к «внутреннему» исламу и восточным государствам.

The publication is presented and analyzed «Report about «Asharihul-Islamiya» (1928) written by Oriental Department of the OGPU. It contains unique material on the activities of Islamic organizations, Ahmadiyya sect in the Turko-Tatar emigration among European states in the late 1920’s and the role of these  organizations in Russian policy towards the «internal» Islam and the eastern states.""