In 2012, the Australian government introduced a program to offer resettlement in Australia to eligible locally engaged Afghan employees, and their direct family members, at risk of harm due to their employment in support of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan. This report outlines the findings from...

The authors of this report examine Taliban leadership use of Twitter in various regional languages and in English. Focusing on three areas — the economy, relationships with other militant groups and neighbouring countries, and the status of women in Afghan society — the authors seek...

Challenged on whether the government was doing enough to assist Afghan refugees fleeing the returning Taliban, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke, claimed Australia was already among the world’s "most generous humanitarian re-settlers".

President Biden’s decision to finally withdraw US forces from Afghanistan was the correct decision and certainly overdue. However, the lack of preparation to do so orderly and safely was yet another terrible mistake in a string of mistakes that have plagued the US from day...

US President, Joe Biden, has blamed the Afghan Government, its security forces, his predecessor Donald Trump, and the US intelligence community for the fall of Afghanistan. In this paper, Lindsay Hughes asks if the US can be trusted in other difficult situations, such as Taiwan?

In this paper, the author answers the questions what are India's strategic objectives now that the US has withdrawn from Afghanistan? And what options could it pursue in the future now that the Taliban is again on the march?

This report argues that the West must realise that China is prosecuting an undeclared non-kinetic war and, consequently, that it has no option but to retaliate in kind now, when China is weaker than it appears to be because of the Chinese Communist Party’s strategic...

Australia’s recent closure of its embassy in Kabul, and the withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021, casts a deep shadow over Afghanistan’s future prospects. In this paper, leading expert on Afghanistan, William Maley, examines the implications for the Afghan nation...

This inquiry was commissioned by the Department of Defence in 2016, after rumours and allegations emerged relating to possible breaches of the Law of Armed Conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan over the period 2005 to 2016. This version of...

Set against a global context of rising violent conflict and the changing nature of conflict driven by a broad range of factors, including a wider spectrum of involved parties, this paper considers lessons drawn from key literature on recent peace processes and multilateral settlements, and...

It is now fifty years since diplomatic relations were formally established between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Kingdom of Afghanistan. This paper explores some of the key dimensions of the development of the relationship.

Climate change poses a major threat to the watersheds of the Hindu Kush region of the Himalayas (HKH). Increasing temperatures are likely to exacerbate existing trends, which cause low water levels in the summer and floods in the winter.

This project, by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), looks at dignity in displacement and aims to explore how affected people conceptualise dignity and their perceptions of whether humanitarian action has upheld or undermined their dignity.

This paper argues that the United States should pursue an exit strategy that is based on realistic timelines, supports a viable peace process that achieves a legitimate, representative Afghan government, seeks to protect the political and social gains made over almost 20 years, and provides...

This Evidence Check was commissioned by the NSW Ministry of Health to provide a summary of evidence from Australia and other countries related to the effectiveness and appropriateness of community-based psychosocial support services and programs for refugees and asylum seekers.

Afghanistan and the US share a relationship that dates back to the early 1920s. The relationship has been predicated upon providing advantage to the US - a situation that seems likely to continue into the future.

In Afghanistan, China recognises several economic and strategic opportunities to advance its goals in the region and beyond, including the opportunity to acquire access to much of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth.

This Office of Development Effectiveness evaluation examined the effectiveness, inclusiveness and efficiency of Australian electoral assistance to major national elections in eight countries between 2006 and 2016: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga.

Afghanistan is currently experiencing widespread conflict, intensifying violence, political instability, human rights abuses, lack of rule of law and good governance, economic hardships, and a serious refugee crisis. This report concludes that it would be impossible for Australian, European and other governments to guarantee the...

One criterion for judging the success of a construction project is whether it is completed within budget. This is often more of a challenge in developing countries where budget problems are just one factor in often poor project performance. In Afghanistan, construction cost overruns are...

Overview The Afghanistan: Lessons from Australia’s Whole-of-Government Mission Report, commissioned by the Department of Defence, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Federal Police, outlines the strengths, good practices and challenges of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan at the whole-of-government...

For this episode of Sub Rosa, Kate Grealy interviewed Zabi Mazoori, who coordinates the Afghanistan project for Physicians for Human Rights’ International Forensic Program. In 2001, he fled persecution by the Taliban and sought asylum in Australia. He returned to Afghanistan to pursue human rights...

This project explores the dynamic trajectories that ‘Hazara Afghan Australian Muslims’ take as they negotiate through their multiple sense of identities in each of these categories. The investigation into the lives of Hazara Australians raises important questions and provides some interesting results. More than anything...

In this essay I will concentrate on economics, my discipline and the one that I have practised not only in Pakistan but in four dozen countries around the world. However, I have learned from this experience that economics should not be separated from other social...

Pakistan is a country much in focus today. This is not just because of the myriad challenges it confronts. It is also because of its immense potential. A nuclear armed nation, with an overwhelming Muslim majority population, it is often in the news, but, alas...