TOPICS
Afghanistan
Afghan society and politics are simultaneously united by Islam – one of the few agents of social cohesion in a land split along ethnic and tribal lines – and threatened by...
Afghan society and politics are simultaneously united by Islam – one of the few agents of social cohesion in a land split along ethnic and tribal lines – and threatened by...
AT THE CENTER
EVENTS (17)
PUBLICATIONS (12)
INTERVIEWS (41)
A Discussion with Robert Cekuta, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, Sanctions and Commodities
May 22, 2011
May 22, 2011
LETTERS (6)
POSTS (4)
RELATED RESOURCES ON AFGHANISTAN
Abdullah Abdullah
Abdullah Abdullah is best known in the US for challenging Hamid Karzai in the 2008 Afghan presidential election, but his political career dates back to the anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban campaigns of the 1980s and 90s. After the American-led invasion in 2001, Abdullah served as Foreign Minister under President Karzai for five years. In this role, he had the delicate task of explaining the prominent role of religion in the newly re-established Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to a largely secular Western public. Upon leaving government in 2006, he became a vocal critic of Karzai's administration. This led to his emergence as the main opposition candidate in the 2008 presidential contest, from which he withdrew due to widespread fraud.