Coverage of Veterans of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the U.S. Media

To evaluate how the media frames veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this study systematically assesses the discourse on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the New York Times and Washington Post from 2003 to 2011. Our analysis of a stratified sample of 151 articles featuring veterans from either the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan finds that the media frames veterans as damaged by their service but deserving of government benefits and social assistance. When the media frames veterans as actively engaging in society, their social engagement is often because of or despite their injuries or mistreatment. We find interplay between victimization and deservingness such that depictions of the cohort as physically and mentally damaged complement and justify arguments for a sustained high level of benefits to accommodate the needs of veterans. We thus argue that generous benefits for veterans partly stem from their depiction as having suffered from their service.     

Enrolling girls without learning: Evidence from public schools in Afghanistan

While more girls are now attending school in Afghanistan than prior to 2010, there is a lack of evidence on how school attendance is helping their cognitive development. We use data from a large sample of all‐girls state‐funded school students to estimate for the first time the “learning profile” for Afghanistan. Students enrolled in grades 4 to 9 were assessed using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) test items. We find that higher grade progression (particularly in grades 6–9) leads to almost no gain in numeracy (addition and subtraction) skills that should have been achieved in early grades. Similar results follow from the analysis of student performance in the EGRA test, particularly in oral reading fluency (correct words read per minute) and oral reading comprehension (number of correct answers out of 12). These findings warn that simply enrolling girls in school without improving the relationship between grade completion and learning is unlikely to transform the lives of women in Afghanistan.     

Winning the story war: Strategic communication and the conflict in Afghanistan

In conflicts of the information age success in the application of force depends less on the outcome of tactical operations on the battlefields but more on how the war's purpose, course and conduct is viewed by public opinion at home as well as within the theatre of operations. Therefore western allies in Iraq and Afghanistan are not only involved in a physical struggle but also in a struggle over perceptions, for no long-term engagement of troops is possible without support from home, nor can a counterinsurgency succeed without the support of the local population. While the ability to exert influence upon various relevant target groups – opponents, the local population and the home front – has always been crucially important during conflicts, with the more recent globalized media this has led to previously unknown potential opportunities to influence audiences. With the intermixing of target audiences and the successes achieved by terrorists in the field of communication, the importance of the ideological struggle has increased enormously. In this context the concept of strategic communication has become relevant, which refers to the consistency of strategy, activities, themes and messages, and the aim of obtaining legitimacy and support. The heart of a strategic communication strategy is formed by a strategic narrative, a compelling storyline which can explain events convincingly and from which inferences can be drawn. Through a case study about the effectiveness of the execution of strategic communication during the mission in Afghanistan, the author wishes to increase the understanding of the concept.     

美国撤军和阿富汗总统大选后的重建问题

多国部队从阿富汗撤出与新总统就职后,阿富汗局势复杂性从两个方面凸显出来：一方面阿富汗面临着安全局势恶化的可能性。军阀战争重启、塔利班卷土重来等可能性是国际社会担忧的安全核心问题;阿富汗大选已尘埃落定,新总统已经就职,但各派政治力量之间的竞争在这次选举后不会平息,旧有的民族、部族、地域矛盾依然存在,滞后的经济和社会发展状况不可能在短期内解决,这是国际社会担忧的阿富汗政治与社会的结构性问题。另一方面,这种情况并不是绝对的。因为,多国部队在撤出后的战略部署以及阿富汗自身安全力量的建设都影响着阿富汗未来的前途。例如,无人机战术的使用在很大程度上压制了各派反政府武装的攻势。阿富汗＂天下大乱＂的可能性不大,但局部不稳定却是非常可能的。     

Characterization of the municipal solid waste stream in Kabul,Afghanistan

The goal of this study was to assess the existing solid waste management stream in Kabul, Afghanistan, as a basis for developing a sustainable solid waste management system. Achieving the goal of this study necessitated (1) assessment of the major factors affecting the solid waste stream and it collection; (2) estimation of the solid waste generation rate; and (3) characterization of the solid waste composition. The solid waste characterization data demonstrated that the solid waste stream in the city of Kabul, although similar to low income countries in Asia, especially to South Asian countries, is unique in composition and solid waste generation rate. The solid waste stream was characterized with large organic fraction of approximately 70% and specific weight of 413 ± 52 kg/m³. The estimated solid waste generation rate ranged between 0.31 and 0.43 kg/capita/day. It is expected, however, that the solid waste stream characteristics for the city of Kabul will change over time to be similar to waste streams of cities in the region with similar socio-economic, cultural and religious background.     

论阿富汗妇女地位的历史演变

近期阿富汗妇女成为世人关注的焦点。在许多人眼里 ,塔利班对妇女的歧视和限制达到无以复加的地步。本文论述 1919年阿富汗独立后妇女地位的历史演变     

Potential Lives,Impossible Deaths

The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in recent years as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has tried to put down the Taliban insurgency. Reports of civilian casualties are, however, frequently dismissed as being examples of Taliban propaganda or blamed on the actions of enemy fighters, while the tragic loss of civilians is rarely marked or even acknowledged within the dominant frames of war. At first glance, the fact that civilians are so easily expendable appears to be at odds with the humanitarian intentions underpinning the war. However, I argue that the rhetoric of humanitarianism operates to preclude Afghans from appearing as recognizable human beings, foreclosing the possibility that they possess a life worthy of protection. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, I will trace the ways in which Afghans have been reduced to the status of absolute victims, denied the very essence of their humanity and therefore a publically grievable death. By effectively constructing them as the living-dead, existing in a state of abeyance, Afghans have been exposed to a deathly logic in which their lives are expendable in the quest to make them liveable once again.     

Narrating marriage: negotiating practices and politics of belonging of Afghan return migrants

ABSTRACT

This article explores Afghan return migrants’ strategies and constraints to identify with the different spaces of belonging they encountered, through their expressions and practices of marriage. We take an in-depth approach to the life histories of 35 voluntary and involuntary Afghan returnees from European countries. We find that in narrating and performing different marriage practices, some Afghan return migrants construct fixed boundaries between different spaces of belonging, while others try to construct these boundaries as permeable and hybrid. Gender and mobility strongly define the way in which return migrants narrate and perform marriage as a cultural practice that determines who belongs, who wants to belong and who is able to belong. We conclude that while openly negotiating hybrid practices within a delicate theme such as marriage requires careful negotiation of boundaries, mobility can improve the extent to which return migrants can apply inventive and hybrid identifications for their personal needs and desires.     

From the private to the public sphere: new research on women's participation in peace-building

Despite the United Nation's landmark Security Council Resolution on women, peace and security in 2000 which highlighted the importance of women's participation in peace-building, only one in 40 peace treaty signatories over the last 25 years has been a woman. Yet evidence from non-government organisations and women's rights organisations shows that women are active agents of peace, resolving conflicts at all levels of society with little or no recognition. This article discusses new research which tracks women's roles in building peace at local levels in five conflict-affected contexts: Afghanistan, Liberia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone. The article highlights the significance of violence against women as a barrier to peace-building, and explores how and why women's exclusion and marginalisation from peace processes tends to increase the more formal the processes become. The article uses two case studies of women's rights organisations in Afghanistan and Nepal to illustrate the research findings and demonstrate how communities can mobilise to promote gender equality and fulfil women's rights.