Former diplomat to discuss Afghanistan after Taliban

Robert Finn, the first U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, will be the political science department’s 15th annual Louis L. Gerson Foreign Policy Lecturer on Nov. 13.

Finn is currently a senior research associate at the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and a lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. 

His diplomatic career has included postings in Turkey, Pakistan, and Croatia. He also opened the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan in 1992.

Finn is the author of The Early Turkish Novel, which has been published in both English and Turkish. His poems and translations have appeared in the United States, Turkey, France and Pakistan.

He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University.

He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey and a Fulbright scholar at Istanbul University.

The Gerson lecture will be held as part of a panel, “Afghanistan after the Taliban: Past, Current, and Future Developments,” which is part of UConn’s International Week.

The other panelist will be Omar Ghafoorzai, Political Secretary of the Afghan Embassy in Washington.  He is responsible for serving as liaison and fostering relationships between the Embassy and the Executive Branch of the U.S.

His general duties include analyzing Afghan and U.S. political and security issues, and coordinating with U.S. Administration counterparts and foreign missions in Washington on various issues relevant to Afghanistan’s rebuilding effort.

The panel will be held in the South Reading Room of Wilbur Cross Building, and will begin at 6:30 p.m. A reception will follow.