AUAF Students Speak on NATO Operations

AUAF students had the opportunity to voice their concerns on NATO operations in two youth events organized in the lead up to the NATO Summit in Bucharest 2-4 April 2008. 

Through the use of video teleconference facilities that connected Kabul, Brussels, and Bucharest, AUAF students and staff were able to participate in two NATO-led events that solicited the views of Afghan youth on NATO’s presence in their country.

The perspectives of Afghan students are particularly valuable to decision-makers at major international organizations such as NATO, as many students have direct experience of NATO operations in Afghanistan, and an unparalleled intuitive understanding of the complex issues facing their country.

On 19 March 2008, ten AUAF students participated in a virtual roundtable with three other universities in the United States and Europe titled Youth Perspectives on NATO’s Role in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Participating universities included the University of California Los Angeles in the United States, the University of Bayonne in France, and Pisa University in Italy. Students were able to provide feedback on NATO operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan to NATO Headquarters in Brussels, including to Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero,

"The international community must focus less on fighting and more on strengthening Afghanistan’s ability to tackle threats itself," said AUAF undergraduate student Tariq Mojadidi during the event.

AUAF also participated in NATO’s "Young Atlanticist Summit," held 2 April 2008 on the margins of the NATO Summit in Bucharest, linking students from NATO countries gathered in Romania with a venue at Kabul University. Speakers included NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, President Hamid Karzai, and U.S. First Lady Laura Bush.

Laura Bush outlined her hopes for students in building Afghanistan’s future. "Your country’s long term stability depends on its capacity to build and sustain the institutions of civic society. Yet decades of conflict and repression have chased away many of those who would traditionally rise to this challenge. Now more than ever, students like each of you have the responsibility to ensure that rule of law triumphs in your homeland."

NATO’s strategy of engaging youth - not simply in NATO countries but also in countries where NATO is operating – is important in building understanding of NATO and, more broadly, how the international community functions in conflict situations.

"NATO is in Afghanistan to support the Afghan government," said Deputy Secretary General Bisogniero to AUAF students. "Remember, this is your country."