Lessons from the West's Failure in Afghanistan

April 24, 2023 | 9:30AM - 3:30PM
Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES), Asian Institute, Europe & Eurasia, Global governance, Foreign policy

This event is over

This is a hybrid event. In-person attendees will go to 315 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 was swift, and its subsequent crackdown has been brutal. Most Western observers and policymakers were caught by surprise, especially given the trillions of USD that the West spent to transform Afghan state and society. Why did this unprecedented support fail? What changes in Western involvement might have generated a different outcome? More broadly, what lessons might we glean from the experience and what might they teach us more generally about the impact of development aid, humanitarian assistance, and other forms of Western support?
 

 

Welcome by Peter Loewen, Munk School Director, and Ed Schatz, CERES Director

 
What Went Wrong in Afghanistan? (Panel 1)
 
Parwiz Kawa, Founding Member and Executive Director of 8AM MEDIA (Hasht-e-Subh Daily Newspaper)
David Michalski, Doctors without Borders
Bilal Sarwary, Afghan journalist
John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)
 
Applying Afghanistan’s Lessons (Panel 2)
 
Dan Fisher, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)
Jennifer Murtazashvili, University of Pittsburgh
Shoaib Rahim, American University of Afghanistan
Janice Stein, University of Toronto
Co-Sponsored by the Munk School, Asian Institute and the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES), Asian Institute, Europe & Eurasia, Global governance, Foreign policy
Larysa Iarovenko; larysa.iarovenko@utoronto.ca

Speakers

Dan Fisher
Dan Fisher

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)

Shoaib Rahim
Shoaib Rahim

The New School

Parwiz Kawa
Parwiz Kawa

Founding Member and Executive Director of 8AM MEDIA (Hasht-e-Subh Daily Newspaper)

David Michalski, Doctors without Borders
David Michalski

Doctors without Borders

Bilal Sarwary,  Afghan journalist
Bilal Sarwary

Afghan journalist

John Sopko,  Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)
John Sopko

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)

Jennifer Murtazashvili, University of Pittsburgh
Jennifer Murtazashvili

University of Pittsburgh

Janice Stein
Janice Stein

University of Toronto