Ottawa - Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, joined more than 25 Afghanistan experts in Waterloo, Ontario, December 17-19, for a workshop entitled "Afghanistan: Transition Under Threat" to discuss the progress of security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

The invitation-only gathering also included Ali A. Jalali, former Interior Minister of Afghanistan and current Visiting Fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defence University in Washington D.C. and Chris Alexander, Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan, who is currently serving as Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan (UNAMA),

Part of the workshop was chaired by Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian envoy to the UN and currently a Senior Fellow at The Centre on International Governance Innovation and Director of the Centre for Global Relations at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Amb. Samad gave an overview of current challenges and accomplishments as the opening speaker of the workshop. Other participants included Husain Haqqani, former Paksitani Ambassador and political advisor, now a Boston University Scholar with Hudson's Islam and Democracy Project, Larry Goodson Director and Associate Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the US Army War College, William Maley, Director, Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy Australian National University, Mark Sedra, Research Associate, The Bonn International Center for Conversion Bonn, Germany, Copp, Director, The Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, Jonathan Goodhand, Senior Lecturer, at the London School for Oriental and African Studies, Doug Goold, President and CEO, Canadian Institute for International Affairs, Megan Minnion, from Public Diplomacy Division, NATO Headquarters, Col. Mike Capstick, Fmr. Commander, Strategic Advisory Team, Afghanistan Canadian Forces and several other distinguished experts.

A key purpose of the workshop is to develop an edited collection of papers on Afghanistan, due for release in April/May 2007. The authors represent perspectives from Afghanistan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Pakistan.

Areas of discussion included: Looking Back at the Bonn Process; Afghanistan's State-Building Challenge; Afghanistan's Development Challenge; the Private Sector as an Engine of Development; Looking Ahead with the Afghanistan Compact; Canada's Role in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan; Domestic Implications of the Afghan Mission; Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Afghanistan; the Role of Afghan Civil Society in the Reconstruction and Peace-building Process; Standing Up the Afghan National Security Forces; Understanding and Addressing the Drug Economy; Understanding the Taliban-led Insurgency; Canada's Mission in Kandahar; and, Afghan-Pakistani Relations.

The gathering was hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and other partners included the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS), University of Waterloo's Centre on Federalism and Foreign Policy (CFPF), and the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS).

Embassy of Afghanistan

December 20, 2006