Afghanistan, the US Departure and the Taliban Takeover: Experiences and Perspectives

Monday, October 18 at 4pm MDT

Register for the Zoom Meeting here.

Over the past few months, Afghanistan has experienced the US withdrawal, the Taliban takeover,  the fall of the US backed government, followed by a chaotic evacuation of some but not all Afghans allied with US.  The panelists will provide details based on their own experiences of US engagements in Afghanistan, the evacuation efforts, and the realities of Taliban rule.

Speakers:

Jennifer Fluri is a Professor of Geography, and a feminist political geographer concentrating on conflict, security, and aid/development in South and Southwest Asia. Jennifer is particularly interested in understanding the spatial organization and corporeal representations and experiences of individuals and groups working and living within conflict zones.

Sayeed Naqibullah: 
Title: Living under Taliban Rule
Bio: Sayed Naqibullah was born and raised in Afghanistan. He has worked with expats in Afghanistan and now lives in Colorado.  

Zareen Taj:
Title: The Fate of Ethnic Minorities under Taliban Rule
Bio: Zareen Taj is a women’s rights and human rights activist. She is currently an LLC Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Zalad Ahmad:  
Title: Now What? The Economics of being an Afghan Woman in Today’s Afghanistan
Bio: Zalad Ahmad, founder of HOLD, and Afghan NGO, has over 15 years of experience working in the field of international development, with a focus on education, human rights, and economic development. She is deeply committed to social and economic progress in her home country of Afghanistan and has a passion for rectifying social justice and gender equality through education and economic empowerment of Afghan women. Throughout her career, Zala has operated in some of the most remote and precarious areas of rural Afghanistan. Zala earned a M.A. in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University, as a Fulbright scholar. She is a Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Colorado-Boulder.