EMEA Mondays: Some Resources on Afghanistan

After a bit of a hiatus, we're back -- with some (hopefully) useful resources on Afghanistan!

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan -- commonly referred to simply as "Afghanistan" -- is a complex and often misunderstood country with a fascinating history.

For basic background information, we suggest having a look at one or more of the following:

• The CIA WorldFactBook page on Afghanistan (here)
• The New York Times' page on Afghanistan (here)
• The Afghanistan Wikipedia page (good historical background of the region - here)

To keep up-to-date with the news coming out of Afghanistan, check out:

• The Guardian's Afghanistan page (here)
• The Huffington Post's Afghanistan page (here)
• DipNote - Afghanistan/Pakistan (a State Department blog - here)

A very interesting list of Afghanistan resources was posted by Tom Ricks on his Foreign Policy magazine blog "The Best Defense".  It can be found here.  

If you're looking for some additional books on the subject, have a look at this list from Suite101, or this (slightly older) one from the Wall Street Journal.  If you're in the mood for fiction set in Afghanistan, some of our favorites include The Swallows of Kabul, The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Do you have any great resources on Afghanistan that we might have missed? Share them in the comments!