Steven Ehrlich (MIA '08) shares how the Taliban could threaten "Code to Inspire," a computer programming school for women based in Afghanistan founded by Fereshteh Forough.

Launched in 2019, SIPA’s Kent Global Leadership Program seeks to address the complexities of global conflict.

Roya Rahmani (MPA '09) served as Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States from 2018 until last month. She recently spoke with CNN to share concerns about the rights of women under the Taliban, as well as other issues.

“When the U.S. announced a total withdrawal, that sent a signal to Afghan soldiers and police that the end was near, and converted chronically poor motivation into acute collapse as nobody wanted to be the last man standing after the others gave up,” says Stephen Biddle.

The war in Afghanistan was basically an afterthought in U.S. politics, Stephen Biddle recently observed. “It’s been invisible.”

Stephen Biddle comments on Afghanistan: “Certainly since early in the Obama administration, this war has been almost invisible in American domestic politics. A catastrophe makes it front-page news.”

For decades, presidents have been concerned with a group of countries pushing up oil prices. Joe Biden is not weak on climate for sharing that concern, says Jason Bordoff.

According to Stephen Biddle, the announcement that 3,000 US troops would go to to Kabul to pull out American diplomats and embassy staff likely made Afghan morale even worse.

SIPA's Wolfram Schlenker is among scholars who found that some African nations, after years of progress on food security, have seen sharp reversals.