Afghanistan: A Neglected Reality

Friday, 7 June: Workshop (two panels: 9:00-18:30), Keynes Lecture Theatre, King’s
College (and online)

Afghanistan: A Neglected Reality

Since its “creation” in the late nineteenth century, Afghanistan has remained a politically destabilised region. Although ostensibly many different political models and governments have been imposed on Afghanistan, no political model or government has succeeded in creating social and political stability in the country, underlined by periodical state breakdowns. The reason behind the word “ostensible” is the fact that from monarch to republic, communist dispensation, Islamist and Taliban, as well as the liberal democratic experiences in post-2001 and the current religious totalitarian state, the prevailing
constant remains the assimilationist model for the state, which was established in the 1920s. This situation creates important questions. What went wrong in Afghanistan? Why did the international community, led by the USA, fail to establish a “democracy” in Afghanistan despite investing a lot of resources, including blood and treasure? More importantly, why does the modern state cannot survive in Afghanistan? Why has there been a periodical state collapse in Afghanistan? What political model could be adopted from the available alternatives to make it more responsive to the realities on the ground? Exploring these and other relevant questions can help us understand Afghanistan and the issues facing the country. King’s College Silk Roads Programme would like to bring scholars and experts
from various academic backgrounds and different regions together to discuss these issues during a workshop on Friday, 7 June 2024. They will share their views and experiences of Afghanistan. All are warmly welcome to attend this event in person (and online).

Opening Remarks:
Prof. Peter Frankopan Director, The Silk Roads Programme
Discussants:
Dr Gillian Tett The Provost, King’s College, University of Cambridge
Dr Prajakti Kalra Cambridge Central Asia Forum, University of Cambridge

Speakers:
Dr Christina Lamb Chief Foreign Correspondent of The Sunday Times
Prof. Amin Saikal Australian National University
Prof. Nazif Shahrani Indiana University
Prof. Thomas Barfield Boston UniversityProf. Jennifer Murtazashwili University of Pittsburgh
Dr Said Reza Huseini Kings College, University of Cambridge
Miss Munazza Ebtikar PhD Candidate, University of Oxford
Mr Abdullah Ahmadi Director of Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organization

Keynote Speaker:
Dr Lauri Bristow Former UK Ambassador to Afghanistan

Closing Remarks:
Mr Zalami Nishat Director, Mosaic Afghanistan

Workshop Details: 

• Date: Friday, 7 June 2024 
• Time: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m (UK time) 
• Venue: Keynes Lecture Theatre, King’s College Cambridge (and online)

Registration for in-person participation: https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1SonAeqedP34ZmK

Panel One
How did the International Community Fail Afghanistan? An External View
9:00-9:15 Welcome & Introducton: Dr Said Reza Husseini, University of Cambridge
9:15-9:30 Opening Remarks: Professor Peter Frankopan, University of Oxford
9:30-10:00 Keynote address by Sir Dr Laurie Bristow KCMG, President of Hughes Hall and former
HM’s Ambassador to Russia and Afghanistan
Presenta8ons chaired by Dr Marissa Quie, Fellow and Director of HSPS at Lucy Cavendish and Lecturer
in Poli8cs at Magdalene College
Presenters:
10:00-10:20 Professor Amin Saikal AM, FASSA, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian
Studies and Founding Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian Na8onal
University
10:20-10:40 Dr Gideon Rachman, Chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times
10:40-11:00 Mr Zalmai Nishat, Director of the Mosaic Afghanistan Organisa8on and Research Fellow at
the Asia Centre of the University of Sussex
11:30-12:30 Panel discussion led by Professor Thomas Barfield, Professor of Anthropology, Boston 

Morning Session Zoom Link (9:00-12:30 a.m UK Time): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvdu2hqTkuGNO0Wad3xmcqfCmRwaWt9Hs7

Panel Two
Continued Failure to Bring Political Stability in Afghanistan? An Internal
View
Presenta8ons chaired by Dr Prajakti Kalra, Affiliated Lecturer at the Centre of Development Studies,
University of Cambridge
Presenters:
2:00-2:20 Professor Thomas Barfield, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University
2:20-2:40 Miss Munazza Ebtikar, Doctoral Candidate at St John’s College, University of Oxford
2:40-3:00 Mr Abdullah Ahmadi, Director of the Afghanistan Democracy and Development
Organization
3:00-3:20 Dr Christina Lamb OBE, Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Times
3:20-3:40 Professor Jennifer Murtazashwili, Founding Director of the Center for Governance and
Markets and Professor of Public and Interna8onal Affairs, University of Pittsburgh
3:40-4:00 Professor Nazif Shahrani, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Central Asian and Middle
Eastern Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington
4:30-5:30 Panel Discussion led by Mr Hameed Hakimi (Associate Fellow at Chatham House and a
Senior Fellow at the Atlan8c Council)
5:30-6:00 Closing Remarks: Dr Said Reza Husseini, King’s College, University of Cambridge

Afternoon Session Zoom Link (2:00-6:00 p.m UK Time):  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqd-oqDguGNGl3DI0z5YpT2bPfLnVpCae