M. Ashraf Haidari was a senior fellow in New America's International Security program.
He serves as the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Sri Lanka and was the Director-General of Policy & Strategy of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan from 2015-2018. Prior to this, he served as Afghanistan’s Deputy Chief of Mission (Minister Counselor) to India for three years, before which he was Afghanistan’s Deputy Assistant National Security Advisor for Policy and Oversight. Haidari also served more than two terms at the Embassy of Afghanistan in the United States in various capacities including: Chargé d’Affaires, Deputy Chief of Mission, Political Counselor, and Acting Defense Attaché. Haidari is a writer and TV & radio commentator on Afghanistan, regional, and international affairs. He has held senior research and visiting fellowship-positions at the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies in Kabul, the Observer Research Foundation and Delhi Policy Group in New Delhi. He holds a master of arts in security studies (international security & development) from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington D.C.; and a bachelor of arts in political science and international relations from Wabash College in Indiana. During 2002-2003, Haidari was a Fellow in Foreign Service at the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.