Alex Strick van Linschoten
Email : william.strick_van_linschoten@kcl.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Afghanistan; Taliban; Identity; Conflict; Horn of Africa; Islam; Religion & Conflict; Literature & Poetry; Dari/Pashto language.
Thesis Project:
'Mullah Wars: the Afghan Taliban between village and state, 1970-2001'
Seeks to explore the evolving identity of the Taliban movement through its history, mainly through a translation and exploration of the primary sources relating to the movement which have not thus far been given a proper airing.
Supervisors:
Professor Anatol Lieven
Dr Rudra Chaudhuri
Biography:
A graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BA Arabic and Persian), Alex Strick van Linschoten first came to Afghanistan six years ago as a tourist. In 2006, he founded AfghanWire together with Felix Kuehn, an online research and media-monitoring group to give a more prominent voice to local Afghan media. In spring 2010 he published My Life With the Taliban, for which he was a co-editor, to critical acclaim, and is also co-editor of a translated volume of Taliban poetry (forthcoming). He is currently working on a book and PhD at the War Studies Department of King’s College London on the identity of the Afghan Taliban movement 1978-2001.
He has worked as a freelance journalist from Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Somalia, writing for Foreign Policy, International Affairs, ABC Nyheter, The Sunday Times (UK), The Globe and Mail (Canada) and The Tablet (UK). He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu and German and can get by in French and Dutch. He is based in Kandahar, Afghanistan, but spends time in London and Berlin.
Publications:
Books:
Articles:
Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn (2011), Separating the Taliban from al-Qaeda: The Core of Success in Afghanistan. (New York: New York University's Center on International Cooperation).
Translations:
Caged Bird: Stories from Safe House and Nadia Anjuman's Poems (Kabul: HAWCA). (translated poetry and stories from Dari into English). http://www.hawca.org/main/en/news-mainmenu-2/93.html