About

Dr. Felix Kuehn is a researcher, analyst and consultant. His research has focused on comprehending the organisational and behavioural realities of non-state violent groups and actors. Kuehn has worked and lived in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia, Jordan and Pakistan. He is co-author/co-editor of three critically acclaimed books about the war in Afghanistan, that are the product of over eight years field experience. Kuehn has designed and implemented large scale qualitative and quantitive research project in highly volatile regions of the world. He has published research papers with New York University and the Afghanistan Analyst’s Network, advised western governments and written for major news outlets. He is currently living in Berlin, Germany.

He can be contacted via email: info[a]felixkuehn.com

Books

My Life With the Taliban – This is the autobiography of former Taliban minister Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef. As co-editor, together with Alex Strick, we spend long days with Mullah Zaeef, cross-referencing his account with that of his peers, as well as researching the background to each event described. It was published by Hurst (UK), Columbia University Press (USA), Hachette (India) and others.

An Enemy We Created / NYU Report – Examines the relationship between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda. Originally commissioned by the Center on International Cooperation (New York University), this was later expanded into a critically-acclaimed book-length treatment published by Hurst (UK) and Oxford University Press (USA).

Poetry of the Taliban – The Taliban’s website includes a large number of poems, which we had translated and edited for this book, published by Hurst (UK), Columbia University Press (USA) and Oxford University Press (Pakistan).

The Taliban Reader – Is a collection of primary sources on the Afghan Taliban. Curated and commented together with Alex Strick it is the culmination of years of work. Much of the material came from the Taliban Sources Project. It was published by Hurst (UK) you can order a copy here.

Projects

Expert Witness Report in US caseA report commissioned by a judge passing sentence on two individuals whose story intersected with Afghanistan. This was co-authored with Alex Strick and Leah Farrall and played a key role in explaining the complicated context behind the cases of Talha Ahsan and Babar Ahmad.

The Taliban Sources Project –  A major initiative to index, digitise, translate, and distribute a landmark collection of Taliban documents. The TSP collection is one of only a few such private document archives in existence and is the only collection to amass documentary evidence of Taliban cultural, social and legal output for the years 1979-2014.

Chatham House report – Entitled “Rebooting a Political Settlement: Engagement and Mediation After the Afghan Elections”, this report was workshopped at a seminar in Oslo prior to release. It was co-authored with Alex Strick and was an attempt to map out a possible way forward for political engagement with the many actors in Afghanistan, whether international, domestic or non-state militants.

First Draft Publishing – Co-founder of a project that seeks to preserve primary source texts and commission new books from up-and-coming authors. We work extensively with authors writing in Arabic, Dari and Pashto from the Middle East and further afield. It continues to be a work in progess. Visit our website here.

The Taliban’s Emirate – Is the title of Kuehn’s PhD thesis. An exploration of the Taliban from their inception until 2001. It looks at the group, movement and organisation in the context of their international engagement from local interactions with NGOs to international diplomatic efforts and negotiations with the USA.

Impressum