NWC News Desk

Afghan government expert talks about the country's prospects and challenges Wednesday, Oct. 10

Posted September 25, 2012
By NWC News Desk

POWELL, Wyo. - Daoud Yaqub has been a key participant and behind-the-scenes insider in Afghanistan’s unfolding history and political transition over the last decade. He’ll share his perspective of this country’s future Wednesday, Oct. 10, in a program titled “The State-Building Story in Afghanistan – An Insider’s View on Prospects and Challenges.”

Yaqub’s program begins at 4 p.m. in Room 70 of the Fagerberg Building at Northwest College.

Yaqub is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and doctoral candidate at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He’s also the former executive director of the Afghanistan Foundation in Washington, D.C., and has held a number of posts in the Afghanistan government.

He participated in the Bonn Conference that formed the post-Taliban government of Afghanistan and subsequently was the first Afghan-American to join the office of the President of Afghanistan where he worked as deputy spokesperson and senior foreign policy aide to President Hamid Karzai.

Yaqub played a significant role in building the Afghan National Security Council (NSC) from nonexistence into a major security and policy organization of the Afghan government. He has served as director of international affairs, director for policy, and director for security sector reform on the National Security Council staff.

In 2008, he left the NSC in Kabul in order to pursue his doctorate full time. Yaqub continues to make frequent trips to Afghanistan for research purposes and works on projects to strengthen the rule of law and to combat corruption in Afghanistan.

Yaqub’s is the first in this year’s Global and International Studies Lecture Series and World to Wyoming Initiative. The state-wide series is sponsored by the University of Wyoming International Global and Area Studies Program and the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Yaqub’s presentation in Powell is sponsored by the Northwest College International Studies Program and the Social Science and Education Division.

The program closes with a reception and refreshments.

Admission is free.