Lecture | Kabul: Final Call

Thursday 14th August
6.30pm-8.00pm

On 15 August 2021, the world watched in horror as Kabul fell to the Taliban, 20 years after western-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. How did 20 years of trying to build a modern democratic society in Afghanistan come to nothing?

Laurie Bristow – author of Kabul: Final Call: The Inside Story of the Withdrawal from Afghanistan, August 2021 – will talk about what happened in August 2021 and why it matters.

Laurie will talk about the looming collapse of Afghanistan as western military forces pulled out, the political intrigues among the Afghan elite, the evacuation from Kabul, and its consequences.

Sir Laurie Bristow was the last UK ambassador to Afghanistan during the fall of the Republic to the Taliban in 2021. He was the UK’s ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020, and to Azerbaijan from 2004 to 2007. Senior roles in London included Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Director for National Security.

Laurie has been President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge University, since October 2022.

6.30pm Drinks Reception (Drink included in ticket price), 7.00pm Lecture Commences

£11 non members | £9 Friends

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