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Title: "The Perilous State of Afghan Reconstruction"
Abstract: Fourteen years and $113 billion into America's attempt to create a secure, stable, and developing Afghanistan, the balance sheet on reconstruction features some successes, but also weak points and failures. Despite advances in schooling, life expectancy, communications, governance, and other areas, Afghanistan remains plagued with poverty, illiteracy, corruption, incapacity, and--partly because of these conditions--a stubborn insurgency. Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been stolen, lost, or wasted for lack of planning, execution, oversight, and accountability. The United States has pledged more aid for years to come, but the diminished U.S. presence in country and security constraints on travel make effective oversight ever more difficult. John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), will lay out some problems, discuss root causes, and suggest what might yet be done to improve Afghanistan's prospects.
Co-sponsoring this event: Center for Mideast Studies, Harvard Law School's Institute for Global Law Policy, Kennedy School's Center for International Development, Institute of Politics