Looking Back, Looking Forward: Afghanistan with Ambassador Roya Rahmani

Diplomatic Immunity

Season 4, Episode 4: In the current series of Diplomatic Immunity, ISD Director of Programs and Research Dr. Kelly McFarland looks back at the first year of the Biden administration's foreign policy and looks forward to the next.

He is joined by Ambassador Roya Rahmani to discuss America and the West's military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Their conversation covered humanitarian aid, corruption, and ways forward for Afghan women.

Roya Rahmani is a former Afghan diplomat who served as Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States and non-resident ambassador to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic from December 2018 to July 2021. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security. Before entering government, she worked for several nonprofits that primarily focused on women’s rights and education.

Episode recorded: February 8, 2022

Image: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken participates in a meet and greet with U.S. Mission Afghanistan personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 15, 2021. [Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

Hosted by Kelly McFarland. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Audio editing by Aaron Jones. Production assistance by Kit Evans and Eleanor Shiori Hughes.

Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs

Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.

Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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