Afghanistan
Ashley has written extensively on the conflict in Afghanistan and the Taliban. She began working in Afghanistan as an aid worker in 2009, and has continued to work and conduct research there in the intervening years. She has advised the UK Parliament, the US State Department and others on the Afghan war. Her research has been published by the Overseas Development Institute, US Institute of Peace, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, and various scholarly journals and thinktanks. She has also authored pieces on Afghanistan for the NY Times and Foreign Policy, and been quoted by the Economist, Wall Street Journal, NY Times and others. Her first book, Negotiating Survival: Civilian-Insurgent Relations in Afghanistan focuses on life under Taliban rule and the nature of civilian agency in wartime.
Media
Interviewed by the Economist, Washington Post, BBC World News, BBC World Service, Guardian, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, NPR, VICE News, New York Times, Stars & Stripes, Reuters, AFP, NBC, the Independent, the Times of London, Le Figaro, Financial Times, Voice of America, The Diplomat and others.
Podcasts and Events
Panellist and speaker at events convened by Harvard University, the US Institute for Peace, the Overseas Development Institute and elsewhere.
Guest on the Foreign Policy Playlist, the Negotiators, Foreign Policy Editor’s Roundtable podcast, Project Syndicate podcast and War on the Rocks Warcast.
Articles
Taleban Perceptions of Aid: Conspiracy, Corruption and Miscommunication, Afghanistan Analysts Network, July 23, 2023.
How the Taliban’s Tax System Helped it Win Control of Afghanistan, The Conversation, August 23, 2022.
The Ban on Older Girls’ Education: Taleban Conservatives Ascendant and a Leadership in Disarray, Afghanistan Analysts Network, March 29, 2022.
It’s Time to Engage With the Taliban. Afghan Lives Depend on It. Foreign Policy, December 2, 2021.
Five Myths About the Taliban, Washington Post, August 27, 2021.
This Is What Taliban Control Looks Like in 2021, NY Times, August 17, 2021.
Lessons After 20 Years of (Failed) Peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Lessons for Peace, July 2021 (with Shigofa Jamal and Florian Weigand).
Afghan Cities Become Key Battlegrounds, War on the Rocks, March 9, 2021 (with Antônio Sampaio).
Like It or Not, Governments Must Negotiate with the Taliban to Ensure Girls’ Access to Education, Telegraph, February 18, 2021 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Governance, Violence, and Aid: the Donor–Taliban Dilemma, Lessons for Peace, December 11, 2020 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
For the Taliban, the Pandemic is a Ladder, Foreign Policy, May 6, 2020.
Why the US is to Blame for its Own Defeat in Afghanistan, PRI The World, December 12, 2019.
There Will Be No Peace for Afghanistan, Foreign Policy, July 4, 2019.
Afghanistan’s Forgotten Half, Project Syndicate, January 18, 2019 (with Anne-Marie Slaughter).
Trump Leaves Behind Mess for Afghans to Clean Up, Foreign Policy, December 21, 2018.
The Taliban Just Won a Key Battle for Afghanistan’s Future, Foreign Policy, October 20, 2018.
The Taliban’s Fight for Hearts and Minds, Foreign Policy, September/October 2018. [Pashto]
How to Save the Afghan Elections, Foreign Policy, 25 June 2014.
Post-NATO, Afghans Need Global Support, Global Times, June 2013.
What Have We Learned About Stabilization in Afghanistan? Not Much, Foreign Policy, May 2013.
For Humanitarian Workers, the Taliban is Key to Access in Afghanistan, Global Observatory, February 2013.
Humanitarian Engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, Open Democracy, December 2012.
Quick Fixes Won’t Aid Afghan Civilians, Politico, November 2010.
What Happens Next in Afghanistan? Huffington Post, July 2010.
Too Early for an Afghan Amnesty? Guardian, June 2010.
Ordinary Afghans Long for a Government that Will Keep Its Promises, Independent, 18 November 2009.
Research
Afghan Experiences of the International Engagement: Narratives from Helmand and Kunar, ODI Lessons for Peace, August 2022 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Rethinking Armed Group Control, Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, May 2022 (with Florian Weigand, Ibraheem Bahiss and Leigh Mayhew).
Taliban Taxation in Afghanistan (2006-2021), International Centre for Tax and Development, February 2022 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Taliban Narratives on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, September 2021 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Taliban Attitudes and Policies Toward Education, Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, February 2021 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Rebel Rule of Law: Taliban Courts in the West and North-west of Afghanistan, Overseas Development Institute, May 2020 (with Florian Weigand).
Insurgent Bureaucracy: How the Taliban Makes Policy, US Institute of Peace, November 2019 (with Rahmatullah Amiri).
Perspectives on Peace from Taliban Areas of Afghanistan, US Institute of Peace, June 2019.
The Taliban’s War for Legitimacy in Afghanistan, Current History, vol. 118, iss. 807, April 2019 (with Florian Weigand).
Political and Economic Life in Afghanistan: Networks of Access, Asian Survey, November/December 2018 (with Giulia Minoia).
Politics over Evidence: Questioning the Link between Service Delivery and Legitimacy, AREU/ODI, August 2018 (with Orzala Nemat).
Life under the Taliban Shadow Government, ODI, June 2018. [Pashto] [Dari]
Transforming Afghanistan? Seeking Coherence between Technical Solutions and Political Processes: Lessons from the Field, February 2017 (with Adam Pain, Danielle Huot and Giulia Minoia).
Seeing Like the Networked State: Subnational Governance in Afghanistan, Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, July 2016.
The Rules of the Games: Towards a Theory a Networks of Access, Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium Policy Brief, June 2016 (with Giulia Minoia).
Politics and Governance in Afghanistan: The Case of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) Working Paper, June 2015.
Politics and Governance in Afghanistan: The Case of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) Working Paper, June 2014.
"You Don’t Need to Love Us": Civil-Military Relations in Afghanistan, 2002-13, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(2): 38, August 2013 (with Simone Haysom).
The Search for Common Ground: Civil-Military Relations in Afghanistan, 2002-13, ODI Working Paper, March 2013 (with Simone Haysom).
Taliban Perspectives on Aid and Development Work in Afghanistan, ODI Policy Brief, December 2012 (with Antonio Giustozzi).
Humanitarian Negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, ODI Working Paper, December 2012 (with Antonio Giustozzi).
Afghanistan: Progress and Prospects after 2014, UK Parliament House of Commons, International Development Committee, Sixth Report, September 2012 (lead author and advisor for the Committee).
High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan, A Joint Report by 17 Organizations Working in Afghanistan, February 2011.
Nowhere to Turn: The Failure to Protect Civilians in Afghanistan, A Briefing Paper by 29 Organizations Working in Afghanistan, November 2010.
Quick Impact, Quick Collapse: The Dangers of Militarized Aid in Afghanistan, A Joint Paper by 8 Non-Governmental Organizations Working in Afghanistan, January 2010.
The Cost of War: Afghan Experiences of Conflict, 1978-2009, A Joint Paper by 11 NGOs Working in Afghanistan, November 2009.
