International Expert Meeting in Amsterdam
News
The Netherlands is not the only country commissioning academic research into its own role during the international intervention in Afghanistan. The United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Australia, among others, are conducting research into various aspects of their own involvement. Research teams from these countries met in Amsterdam on September 28 and 29 to discuss the content of their research and to share experiences.
Before the countries shared their contributions, they listened to lectures by cultural anthropologist and Afghanistan expert Thomas Barfield (Boston University) and by Antonio Giustozzi (Royal United Services Institute), who has written extensively on Afghanistan and the Taliban, including the book The Taliban at War (2019). Both researchers have extensive experience with field research in Afghanistan. The international researchers asked them questions about their experiences.
Then the floor was given to the researchers from the different countries. This led to interesting conversations about the different research assignments, questions and methods. There remains much to learn from and exchange with each other. Because of this, the research network intends to continue to meet.