Moderated by
Mr. Frederick Kempe
President and CEO 
Atlantic Council

The stakes could not be higher. Afghanistan faces an historic presidential election on June 14 with a runoff between frontrunners Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

Dr. Ghani, the former Afghan finance minister and World Bank official, will address the major issues that will determine the coming election as well as deliver the first major response by any major Afghan leader to President Barack Obama’s announcement this week regarding US troop withdrawal and ongoing presence in Afghanistan.

Among other issues Dr. Ghani will address are the electoral process, and what it says about Afghanistan; the completion of the security transition; the potential for the unification of the country around shared goals; the steps required toward economic stabilization of the Afghan economy (which relies so much on foreign assistance); how Afghanistan will continue its fight against insurgents and other criminal networks; how Afghanistan can manage its fraught relations with Pakistan and other countries; and the outlook for future relations with the US and its allies.

(The Atlantic Council has also invited Dr. Abdullah to participate in a similar conversation, but he has not yet responded.)