Afghan Notebook

Afghan Notebook is a blog written by Vikash Yadav, an Assistant Professor of Political Science. His specialty is “sovereignty, security, and identity in South Asia”, and is conducting research on India’s strategy in Afghanistan. He states, “I don't claim to be an expert on Afghanistan…which is why I am keeping this log of what I am learning.” A humble approach, and he seems to have been following it so far.

His frequency of posting varies with the time of the year, as there are periods where he posts very frequently, followed by months with only one or two posts because he has to take time off to travel as part of his research (he usually posts a warning beforehand). As of Afghan Notebook’s prominence in the world of social media, it does not appear on the Technorati scale, and there is little indication of how much traffic it receives per day. (Heck, it doesn’t even appear in the first few Google search results on Afghanistan blogs.) He has several blogs on his blogroll, with some written by individuals and others created by think tanks; as a supplement, his blog also has a public Twitter account that posts links to articles he finds interesting, and another sidebar that posts the titles and excerpts of news articles.

While Yadav does cross-post quotes and videos from other news sources in some of his blog entries, the bulk of them are composed of solely his own commentary and/or analysis. Nearly all his blog entries are long and detailed, and usually cover one topic at a time. He also sometimes draws from his previous discussions with other academics and comments on whether their hypotheses fit the current situation, and has on at least one occasion used popular culture (referencing episodes from the Wire and describing someone as “young and handsome [in a swashbuckling, Captain Jack Sparrow-ish sort of way]”) to make comparisons.

As inferred in the blog title, Yadav examines issues in Afghanistan that also concern countries such as India and Pakistan. He also discusses US military action and developments in foreign policy since the conflict began, and two of his more recent posts are of particular interest. The first one is his summary of what has changed, with some interesting points on the coining of catchphrases to describe new strategies and the increasing radicalisation of religion, not in the Middle East and Asia, but in the Eastern world; recent events certainly seem to support these points. The second post recalls a debate he had with a fellow professor over counter-insurgency tactics in Afghanistan, where he questions if the method of “terrorizing citizens” used in the Vietnam War would be effective today, listing a number of public protests in the region that occurred in response to attacks by NATO. I feel that these two entries highlight just how much has changed in Afghanistan since the US began military operations, and whether the US can learn from its previous war experiences. At the same time, neither of these entries link to any sources to support his argument, which could be undermined if someone posts a counter-argument.

I believe that Yadav’s approach to the topic of Afghanistan is close to mine, as he is using this blog to educate himself as well as disseminate his knowledge to the general audience. In contrast to the dozens of blogs kept by military and civilian figures stationed in Afghanistan, whom have firsthand experience with the issues every day, Yadav is in my position: very interested in the subject matter and its significance, but having to rely on other sources first to inform ourselves. While his comes from an academic background, his blog appears to be written for a general informed but ignorant audience based on his use of more informal language and attempts to link the reader to the content using references they might be more familiar with. His analysis reflects the amount of research he has conducted without overtly pushing an agenda, and his style of writing engages the reader. On a final note, he makes an effort to encourage the audience to find other sources either through the links on his Twitter or his news sidebar. My blog will probably not be as vivid and nuanced in its arguments due to our different academic levels, but his would not be a bad model to follow.