The Wilson Center Hosts Global Experts Offering “Hindsight Up Front” on the Future of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – Today the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum launched Hindsight Up Front: Lessons & Implications of Withdrawing from Afghanistan, a new initiative which will gather policy experts and government officials from around the world with the goal of exploring and analyzing the human and geopolitical consequences of the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan.

Hindsight Up Front will launch with the publication of a new online resource (www.wilsoncenter.org/afghanistan) where all new and archived Afghanistan content will be featured.

The kickoff event will be a discussion on the U.S. and coalition forces withdrawal from Afghanistan and the prospects for the country’s future, featuring:

• Gen. David Petraeus (ret.), former Commander of U.S. and ISAF Forces in Afghanistan and Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• Sir John Scarlett, former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)

Other upcoming events will include discussions featuring:

• Gen. H.R. McMaster (ret.), former National Security Advisor
• The Right Honourable Roderick “Rory” Stewart, former British Secretary of State for International Development

“I am delighted to welcome such an eminent and experienced group, each of whom have been a critical player in the history of U.S. and allied engagements in Afghanistan over the past two decades,” said Ambassador Mark Green, Wilson Center President, Director and CEO.

Additional events will follow examining how the region – China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Iran – are likely to view and respond to the withdrawal, exploring the implications of withdrawal for human rights and civil society in Afghanistan, and assessing the future of counter-terrorism and related security issues for the United States. Also featured will be a series of interviews with veterans, voices from Afghanistan’s civil society, prominent scholars, senior officials and Members of Congress.

“Hindsight Up Front will be a major area of focus for the Wilson Center over the next several months because it is important to the United States, and our withdrawal will have far-reaching consequences of deep importance for American values, interests, and foreign policy,” said Ambassador Green.

Hindsight Up Front builds upon over 20 years of independent, non-partisan research and events on Afghanistan conducted by the Wilson Center. The initiative will be run by Center’s Asia Program, featuring Michael Kugelman, Senior Associate for South Asia and a leading specialist on Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

The Wilson Center is ranked one of the top think tanks globally by the University of Pennsylvania.

 Notes to editors:

1. The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact. By conducting relevant and timely research and promoting dialogue from all perspectives, it works to address the critical current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world.

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