This report provides a backdrop for identifying conflict resolution initiatives in support of a settlement with the Taliban in Afghanistan. It reviews the multifaceted peace processes, both past and present, and provides insights into the most recent developments among the Taliban. Based on...

Ten years ago, the borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan were the command post for leaders of Al-Qaeda (AQ). But what has happened with AQ since then? And what sort of collaboration or conflict is there between the dominant Taleban-related movement in the region, AQ, and the new kid in...

In a DIIS Working Paper that summarizes earlier contributions, Mona Kanwal Sheikh describes the development in her work on worldview analysis. She has worked on two intertwined concepts and frameworks for thinking; first sociotheology (Juergensmeyer & Sheikh 2013) and secondly worldviews...

This report takes stock of the burgeoning efforts to achieve some level of reconciliation with the Taliban after more than 11 years of war. It deals with the recent history of initiatives to engage with the Taliban, outlines the challenges to these initiatives and derives some recommendations...

What connects Chinas to the challenges of separatism in Balochistan? Why is India important when it comes to water shortages in Pakistan? How does jihadism in Punjab an Sindh differ from religious militancy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)? Why do Iran and Saudi Arabia matter...

Research cooperation between Somalia and Sweden began in 1982, but was interrupted in the early 1990s due to the civil war. As Somalia gradually starts the process of institution-building and shifting towards a federal system, the Swedish government is considering whether and in what form to...