Dr. Abdullah Abdullah provides an up-to-date analysis of the current situation in Afghanistan and the challenges that lie ahead. One of the principal decision-makers at the Bonn Conference, Dr. Abdullah enjoyed a rare vantage point as the first post-Taliban Minister of Foreign Affairs. Although not a member of the government nor any opposition parties at present, he continues to be regarded as one of Afghanistan's leading political figures. Dr. Abdullah is the Secretary General of the Massoud Foundation, a non-profit institution dedicated to serving the people of Afghanistan by promoting social welfare, education, health, and agriculture. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann moderates- Asia Society
Bio
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
Dr. Abdullah was the foreign minister of the Afghan United Front government from 1998 onwards.
Following the assassination of Massoud in 2001, he became one of the three dominant figures in the Northern Alliance and later the Transitional Afghan Government along with Mohammed Fahim and Yunus Qanuni.
In 2001 he was selected as Foreign Minister for the Interim Administration of Afghanistan; a post which he lost in a cabinet reshuffle on March 22, 2006.
He is generally considered to be, along with former Ministers Mohammed Fahim and Yunus Qanuni, a leader of the Tajik faction, although his mother is actually an ethnic Pashtun. Unlike many other former Northern Alliance officials, he was not removed from his ministerial post immediately after the 2004 Presidential Election.
Ambassador Ronald Neumann
Ronald E. Neumann is the current United States Ambassador to Afghanistan and previously served as ambassador to Algeria from 1994 to 1997 and Bahrain from 2001 to 2004.
He is the son of former ambassador Robert G. Neumann and traveled extensively after college in Afghanistan while his father was ambassador there.