Political Salon: Afghanistan - A Post-Election Assessment

Despite a raging war, endless corruption, and questionable rule of law, Afghanistan held nationwide parliamentarian elections September 18. WPI Senior Fellow Patricia DeGennaro has just returned from observing the elections in the Panjsher Valley and will give a first-hand account of the elections and Afghan attitudes toward this new step toward freedom. She visited both women's voting centers (where men are not allowed) and men's centers. She will discuss the changes she has seen in Afghanistan over the past few years, the challenges that continue to lie ahead following the recent change in military command, the efficacy of the military surge and mandate to involve civilians in a broader security effort, and they ways in which the `election obsession` of the international community is a double-edged sword --both helping and hurting the movement toward Afghan self-rule. As Western media focus on reports of election fraud, many Afghans feel that elections are just one part of the many changes that need to take place.

Please join us for this provocative discussion about the impact of these elections on Afghanistan, and on what the response of the West should be to the fraud allegations.

About the Speakers

World Policy Institute Senior Fellow Patricia (Tricia) DeGennaro is an adjunct assistant professor at New York University's Department of Politics where she teaches a course on international security. DeGennaro capitalizes on over fifteen years of experience in a writer, independent analyst and consultant in international relations and economic development. Earlier this year, she visited Iraq where she analyzed the military transition to civil authority. She has also spent much of the last five years working in Afghanistan on provincial governance and capacity building, parliamentary reform, public policy development in the Office of the President of Afghanistan and joint interagency, intergovernmental and multinational coordination.
 

Moderated by WPI Project Leader Michelle Fanzo

Michelle Fanzo has twelve years experience in international affairs, including working in the UN Office of the Secretary-General under Kofi Annan, and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. She has worked in Africa, Asia and most recently Afghanistan supporting development and humanitarian operations in the field, and strategy, policy and communications at UN Headquarters.

Payment and Registration
• Free for WPI Members
• $20 for those employed in the private sector
• $10 for non-profit professionals, and those in media, government and academia
Advance payment and registration are required. 

To register, please email politicalsalon@worldpolicy.org
 
Payments can be made online via PayPal HERE
*please be sure to write `Political Salon` in the `Note to Seller` box.  
 
To pay by check, make checks payable to World Policy Institute and sent to:
World Policy Institute
220 Fifth Ave, Ninth Floor
New York, NY 10001

Be sure to write `Political Salon` on the memo line, and include your return address so that we can send you a receipt.

Call the World Policy Institute Events line at 212.481.5005, Option 2, with any event-related questions.