Lessons from the West's Failure in Afghanistan
April 24, 2023 | 9:30AM - 3:30PM
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
Larysa Iarovenko; larysa.iarovenko@utoronto.ca
Speakers
Dan Fisher
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (USA)
Shoaib Rahim
The New School
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)
Jennifer Murtazashvili
University of Pittsburgh
Janice Stein
University of Toronto