Afghanistan: Prospects for 2017 and Beyond

With his inauguration as President, Donald Trump is the third president to command American forces in Afghanistan. Yet Afghanistan continues to receive little attention in public debates over policy. More than 15 years after American forces first entered the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, what are the prospects for the Afghan government and people and how will Donald Trump shape American policy towards Afghanistan? 

Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib will present a keynote. Dr. Mohib is Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States. Before being appointed Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Mohib served as Deputy Chief of Staff to H.E. The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The role included oversight of the spokesperson’s office, the office of correspondence and diplomatic communications, protocol office, petitions office, and the Presidential secretariat. Dr. Mohib led the presidential negotiating team for several inter-government cooperation agreements and the formulation of Afghanistan’s national development “Realizing Self-Reliance” reform strategy.

New America also welcomes Ioannis Koskinas, a senior fellow with New America’s International Security Program who has been based in Afghanistan for the past seven years, to discuss these questions. Koskinas focuses on foreign policy issues with an emphasis on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and the Levant. He is the CEO of the Hoplite Group, a company focused on sustainable and innovative solutions to complex problems, in the most challenging environments and harshest conditions.

Follow the discussion online using #AfghanProspects and following @NewAmericaISP.

Lunch will be provided.

Keynote:

Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib
Ambassador to the United States, Afghanistan
Former Deputy Chief of Staff to H.E. The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Participant:

Ioannis Koskinas @HopliteGroup
Senior Fellow, New America International Security Program
CEO, Hoplite Group

Moderator:

Peter Bergen @peterbergencnn
Vice President, New America