International Diplomacy Lecture Series: Post-Karzai Afghanistan

KARL EIKENBERRY -  William J. Perry Fellow in International Security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Distinguished Fellow with the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University

The 2014 presidential election, if successfully concluded, will mark the first democratic transition of power in Afghanistan's political history.  The new president and his administration will face a daunting set of security, governance, and economic challenges, even as the U.S.-led NATO coalition continues the drawdown of its combat forces.  Karl Eikenberry, who previously served as U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan and commanded international military forces in that country, has just returned from travel to Islamabad and Kabul, and will discuss Afghanistan's future prospects as well as possible areas for Sino-American cooperation. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry is an affiliated faculty member with Stanford’s Center for Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law, and researcher with The Europe Center. Prior to his arrival at Stanford, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from May 2009 until July 2011, where he led the civilian surge directed by President Obama to reverse insurgent momentum and set the conditions for transition to full Afghan sovereignty. Before appointment as Chief of Mission in Kabul, Eikenberry had a thirty-five year career in the United States Army, retiring in April 2009 with the rank of Lieutenant General.