About this Event
Join the VCWA and expert panelists for a well-rounded discussion about Afghanistan's rapid fall to the Taliban and how it relates to themes of peace and conflict. We will be joined by Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007 and has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly to research stabilization within the country and efforts to maintain adequate State and USAID budgets. Ambassador Neumann will be accompanied by Paula Nirschel, founder of the non-profit Action for Afghan Women. Nirschel combined her love for the country and passion for female empowerment and has been working for over two decades to educate future female leaders for Afghanistan in the areas of business and politics.
These two panelists will shed light on their insights, reactions, and advice to the current events unraveling in Afghanistan today.
Speakers
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
Formerly a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Ronald E. Neumann served three times as Ambassador; to Algeria, Bahrain, and Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Mr. Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad from February 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdad’s liaison with the Multinational Command.
Ambassador Neumann is the author of a memoir, Three Embassies, Four Wars: a personal memoir (2017) and The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan (Potomac Press, 2009), a book on his time in Afghanistan. He has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly and is the author of several monographs, articles, and editorials. His writings have focused most heavily on Afghanistan, stabilization, and Bahrain.
Ambassador Neumann is on the Advisory Board of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), and the Advisory Board of Spirit of America. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Middle East Policy Council and the Advisory Council of the World Affairs Councils of America.
Founder, Action for Afghan Women
Paula has been a frequent visitor to Afghanistan. Over the years she has combined her work visits there, with lots of good times spent with her Afghan hosts and friends. Afghan hospitality and pride is the best. Paula commits her life work to promoting a better life for Afghan women, their families and communities. In 2001, Paula created a successful nonprofit education program for Afghan Women. The mission was to educate future female leaders for Afghanistan, in the areas of business and politics. Fifty five women graduated with four year US college degrees! Their experience at US colleges was life changing, and contributed to the great pride of their homeland.
Moderator
President & CEO of Global Ties U.S.
Katherine Brown, Ph.D. is the President & CEO of Global Ties U.S., the largest and oldest citizen diplomacy network in the United States. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies.
Before joining Global Ties U.S. in 2018, Katherine was a Public Policy Manager at Facebook, Inc., where she was also in residence as a Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) International Affairs Fellow. From 2013-2016, she served as the Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State.
Katherine previously served in the U.S. government as an assistant to the National Security Advisor at the White House; as a communications advisor at the American Embassy in Kabul; and as a Professional Staff Member at the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Katherine received her Ph.D. in Communications from Columbia University in 2013 and completed her doctoral fieldwork in Afghanistan and Pakistan where she examined their news media’s effects on governance, civil society and foreign policy. Her book, “Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan,” was published by Oxford University Press in 2019.
Event Format: Webinar
Attendee Video: Off
Attendee Audio: Off
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