Afghanistan Research Articles

Estimating COVID-19 dynamics in Afghanistan

Little reliable information on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is available from war-torn countries, including Afghan-istan The current study estimates the pandemic features based on currently available data to forecasting future challenges of preventive strategies and emergency response using mathematical modeling The infection fatality and recovery rates were estimated by 1 8% and 20 8%, respectively The average growth rates of infection, death, and recovery among the Afghanistan population were estimated as 0 2, 0 2, and 0 5, respectively Also, it was estimated that approximately 6 mil-lion people infected in the urban area, which may lead to approximately 11 thousand deaths However, the features of the pandemic, marks that Afghanistan needs more time to pass the pandemic Along with this, inadequate community engage-ment and low abiding to health advice, including social distancing, lack of personnel and testing capacities in the provinces, shortage of laboratory testing supplies, insufficient infection prevention, and control measures in health facilities in some of the provinces, limited access to and response capacities are the main challenges to fight against COVID-19 Therefore, the majority of infected cases and deaths may not be reported, and preventive strategies effectively in Afghanistan could severely be disrupted by several socio-cultural, financial, political, and administrative obstacles

Afghanistan Legislative Commitments to the WTO: A Deeper Look at Afghanistan's Compliance with TRIPS

Afghanistan Legislative Commitments to the WTO: A Deeper Look at Afghanistan's Compliance with TRIPS

Afghanistan in Transition

Afghanistan in Transition

Hydro-politics in Iran and Afghanistan: An Overview

Hydro-politics in Iran and Afghanistan: An Overview

On the impact of future climate change on tropopause folds and tropospheric ozone

Abstract. Using a transient simulation for the period 1960–2100 with the state-of-the-art ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) global model and a tropopause fold identification algorithm, we explore the future projected changes in tropopause folds, stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) of ozone, and tropospheric ozone under the RCP6.0 scenario. Statistically significant changes in tropopause fold frequencies from 1970–1999 to 2070–2099 are identified in both hemispheres, regionally exceeding 3 %, and are associated with the projected changes in the position and intensity of the subtropical jet streams. A strengthening of ozone STT is projected for the future in both hemispheres, with an induced increase in transported stratospheric ozone tracer throughout the whole troposphere, reaching up to 10 nmol mol−1 in the upper troposphere, 8 nmol mol−1 in the middle troposphere, and 3 nmol mol−1 near the surface. Notably, the regions exhibiting the largest changes of ozone STT at 400 hPa coincide with those with the highest fold frequency changes, highlighting the role of the tropopause folding mechanism in STT processes under a changing climate. For both the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) and Afghanistan (AFG) regions, which are known as hotspots of fold activity and ozone STT during the summer period, the year-to-year variability of middle-tropospheric ozone with stratospheric origin is largely explained by the short-term variations in ozone at 150 hPa and tropopause fold frequency. Finally, ozone in the lower troposphere is projected to decrease under the RCP6.0 scenario during MAM (March, April, and May) and JJA (June, July, and August) in the Northern Hemisphere and during DJF (December, January, and February) in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the decline of ozone precursor emissions and the enhanced ozone loss from higher water vapour abundances, while in the rest of the troposphere ozone shows a remarkable increase owing mainly to the STT strengthening and the stratospheric ozone recovery.

The European Union’s strategy on Afghanistan. Selected Issues

Zamach na World Trade Center z 11 września 2001 roku był dowodem na zwiększające się zagrożenie terrorystyczne dla USA, ale również dla Unii Europejskiej. Nie dziwi zatem, że UE zaczęła walczyć z terroryzmem również poza jej własnym obszarem. Afganistan stanowił na tyle duże zagrożenie, że wspólnota europejska zdecydowała się na czynny udział najpierw w wojnie z talibami, a następnie w misji pokojowej na tamtym terenie. Artykuł pozwala prześledzić ewolucję zaangażowania Unii Europejskiej w pomoc Afganistanowi, w sprawę demokratyzacji, odbudowy kraju i jego struktur, stworzenia społeczeństwa obywatelskiego oraz poprawę jakości życia. Pochylono się też nad zapisami najnowszej strategii UE dla Afganistanu z 2017 roku, która najsilniejszy nacisk kładzie na kwestie przestrzegania praw człowieka, zwiększenia roli kobiet w życiu społecznym oraz zapewnieniu pokoju i stabilności w regionie.

Recent books relating to Afghanistan

Recent books relating to Afghanistan

The Impact of Terrorism on Unemployment: Evidence from Afghanistan (1980-2017)

The Impact of Terrorism on Unemployment: Evidence from Afghanistan (1980-2017)

Book review: Katherine Brown, Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan

Book review: Katherine Brown, <i>Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan</i>

АФҒОНИСТОН МАТБУОТИНИНГ БУХОРОГА ТАСИРИ ХУСУСИДА

In the article the formation of the mass media in Afghanistan, establishment of printing facilities, the first Afghan media outlet "Shams an-nakhar" and its brief description, the aspects praising the emir of Afghanistan Sheralikhan, the impact of the enlightenment movement of Afghanistan to Bukhara, the insolvency of the this media outlet during the Anglo-Afghan war, the launch of "Siraj al-Akhbar Afghania" newspaper,the processes of infiltration of this newspaper to emirate of Bukhara and the Turkistanregion, some info on the editing and printing issues in Afghanistan appearing in the localmedia of Bukhara, architectonics of the newspaper "Siraj al-Akhbar Afghania", itspropagation of independence, the solidarity of Muslims, its propagation of independence,its prohibition in the governorship-general of Turkestan and the emirate of Bukhara, the contemporary location where the newspaper is preserved, the issues related with printing under the name "Amani Afghan" are revealed thoroughly based on the mass media outlets

The Taliban and the humanitarian soldier: Configurations of freedom and humanity in Afghanistan

Humanitarian wars are a primary means of globally affirming a specific model of humanity, built according to the cultural, moral, and economic standards of Western democracies. How are forms of humanity produced in the context of humanitarian war in Afghanistan? How are notions of freedom mobilized? How does the idea of a prospective humanity relate to the use of military force? In an attempt to reflect on the different configurations of freedom and humanity that emerged in the context of recent Afghanistan conflicts and international interventions, this article addresses the perspective of two key figures: the Taliban and the humanitarian soldier. Building on narratives such as poetry, interviews, and conversations conducted during fieldwork, this angle allows us to observe the complexity of the Afghan humanitarian theatre in a way that goes beyond mere assessments of political and economic interests, revealing a fragment of global contemporaneity that is crucial for understanding how processes of producing humanity combine with war and humanitarian efforts.

The Graveyard of Empires: Haunting, Amnesia and Afghanistan’s Construction as a Burial Site

Afghanistan appears to exist in a different time from ‘us.’ Modernization theory, linear narratives of progress, teleological tales of growth and common sense stories of development seem to have met their match when it comes to this landlocked country. This paper considers the ubiquitous construction of Afghanistan as the ‘Graveyard of Empires’ to explore the ways in which representation, memory-making, and an allegory of mythic import perform a constitutive function and help suture an otherwise disjointed history of Afghanistan. Conducting a sustained inquiry into the political valence of the Graveyard trope, the paper reveals that it is especially ill-chosen on three counts. (i) It is ahistorical, relying on a selective evocation of history. Related to this ahistoricism, it sets up the past as the ‘key’ to understanding the Afghan present. On this account, another future is not possible. (ii) It is geographically or at least ‘physically’ deterministic: Afghanistan is constructed as a land of unconquerable terrain, its topography menacing and ultimately unassailable. Not only does this present the physical environment as an immutable entity, it also feeds into representations of Afghans as rugged warriors, bred to be weathered and connately austere. (iii) It is racialized: Afghans as inhabitants, creators and living relics of this graveyard are constructed as inured to hardship, belligerent and always already girded for combat. Thus the ‘graveyard of empires’ becomes a politically charged trope that is engaged in a continual re-inscription of the Afghan population as an alien other.

Liverworts, mosses and hornworts of Afghanistan - our present knowledge

Abstract A new bryophyte checklist for Afghanistan is presented, including all published records since the beginning of collection activities in 1839–1840 by W. Griffith till present. Considering several unidentified collections in various herbaria, 23 new records for Afghanistan together with the collection data can be added to the flora. Beside a new genus, Asterella, the new records include Amblystegium serpens var. serpens, Brachythecium erythrorrhizon, Bryum dichotomum, B. elwendicum, B. pallens, B. weigelii, Dichodontium palustre, Didymodon luridus, D. tectorum, Distichium inclinatum, Entosthodon muhlenbergii, Hygroamblystegium fluviatile subsp. fluviatile, Oncophorus virens, Orthotrichum rupestre var. sturmii, Pogonatum urnigerum, Pseudocrossidium revolutum, Pterygoneurum ovatum, Schistidium rivulare, Syntrichia handelii, Tortella inflexa, T. tortuosa, and Tortula muralis subsp. obtusifolia. Therewith the number of species increase to 24 liverworts, 246 mosses and one hornwort. In addition, a historical overview of the country’s exploration and a full biogeography of Afghan bryophytes is given.

“tsɑrɑŋ?” - Telephone Conversation Openings in the Rushani Language

This paper uses conversation analysis (CA) to examine telephone conversation openings in an unwritten and understudied language, Rushani, spoken primarily in remote, mountainous areas of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In a sample of three telephone conversations, examples are sought of the four opening sequences of telephone calls originally identified by Schegloff (1986): summons-answer; identification-recognition; greetings; and initial inquiries. At first glance, telephone conversation openings in Rushani appear to skip over the greeting stage and move directly into an extended exchange of initial inquiries. However, upon closer analysis, it is argued that a Rushani word that translates as “How are you” is in fact used by conversation participants as a greeting. The paper concludes with an argument that the study supports a “universalist” position of CA as applied to calls conducted in languages other than English (Luke & Pavlidou, 2002). Despite their apparent form as initial inquiries, greetings in telephone conversations in Rushani serve precisely the same function and resolve the same “interactional issues” as greetings in other languages (Schegloff, 1986).

English

English

Recent books relating to Afghanistan

Recent books relating to Afghanistan

Sex as the secret: counterinsurgency in Afghanistan—Corrigendum

Sex as the secret: counterinsurgency in Afghanistan—Corrigendum

Challenges and facilitators to the establishment of a midwifery and nursing council in Afghanistan

Challenges and facilitators to the establishment of a midwifery and nursing council in Afghanistan

Factors associated with antenatal care visits in Afghanistan: secondary analysis of Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey 2015.

ABSTRACTAfghanistan is one of the countries with the poorest maternal mortality ratio in the world. Inadequate utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services increases the risk of maternal mortality. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with ANC visits in Afghanistan. The dataset of the Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey (AfDHS) 2015 were used for taking the socio-demographic factors, cultural factors, and the number of ANC visits. The subjects of this study were 18,790 women who had at least one live birth in the last five years, and 10,554 women (56.2%) had availed of at least one ANC visit. Most women were 20-29 years old (53.3%), poor (41.7%), had 2–4 children (43.9%), lived in rural areas (76.1%), and had no education (85.0%) or no job (86.7%). Most women answered that husbands made a decision about their healthcare and that getting permission from their husbands was a major challenge. Multivariate analysis showed that age, ethnicity, area of residence, parity, women’s education, husband’s education, literacy, having a job, wealth, the decision maker for healthcare, and difficulty in getting permission from the husband were significantly correlated with availing of the ANC visits. This study showed that not only the socio-demographic factors but also the cultural factors were associated with ANC visits. The Afghanistan government should improve the education programs at schools and healthcare facilities, for both men and women. To augment women’s propensity to take a decision, the programs for women’s empowerment need to be supported and extended across the country.

Afghanistan’s regulation of situation: destabilisation threats and regional powers interests

Afghanistan’s regulation of situation: destabilisation threats and regional powers interests