An update is in order, as I've been remiss over the summer. I spent a very busy four months in Afghanistan, including a scorching month in Kandahar during the summer offensive, both embedded and independently. My observations on ISAF's military progress in Kandahar will be published as the cover story in the December issue of the Walrus Magazine, Canada's leading literary nonfiction magazine.
I did have time for some lighter pursuits, including this article for Popular Science Magazine, in which I explored illegal emerald mines in the mountains north of Kabul:
The Treasure of the Safit Chir
I've also written a long piece of political analysis in the Indian literary journal the Caravan, which investigates India's involvement in Afghanistan. I spent several months speaking to spooks, diplomats, and locals in an attempt to fathom the clandestine battle taking place between the region's intelligence agencies, and its impact on Afghan politics.
India in Afghanistan: Nation building or proxy war?
I've also recently written two articles for the excellent AfPak Channel, a joint collaboration between Foreign Policy Magazine and the New America Foundation:
The big business of kidnapping in Afghanistan. (A longer version of a story originally written for the French magazine Courrier International.)
Losing legitimacy in Kandahar: Preliminary winners in the parliamentary elections. (With Grant Hewad, originally written for the Afghan Analysts' Network.)
More will be forthcoming.