WASHINGTON, DC

The Middle East Institute’s Louis R. Hughes Lecture Series is pleased to welcome Robert L. Grenier (ERG Partners) for a discussion of his recent book, 88 Days to Kandahar: A CIA Diary (Simon & Schuster, 2015). During his time as CIA station chief in Islamabad from 1999-2002, Grenier directed the “southern campaign” of the first American-Afghan war, which orchestrated the downfall of the Taliban and Hamid Karzai’s subsequent rise to power over the course of 88 days. In his new book, Grenier reflects on the internal politics of Afghanistan at the time, looking back at the crucial players and the development of a national policy that contributed to the toppling of the Taliban and the routing of al-Qaida in Afghanistan. The conversation will examine contemporary counterterrorism campaigns and diplomacy efforts on an international scale. After the discussion, Grenier will sign copies of his book.

Biographies:

Robert L. Grenier had a much decorated, twenty-seven-year career in the CIA’s clandestine service. A renowned Middle East expert, he has been deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia. He organized the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division and headed the CIA’s basic training facility, “The Farm.” From 1999 to 2002, he was CIA station chief in Islamabad. Subsequently, he was director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, responsible for all CIA counterterrorism operations around the globe. Currently, Grenier is chairman of ERG Partners, a consulting firm to businesses in the intelligence and security sector. http://robert-grenier.com/

Marvin Weinbaum (Moderator) is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and served as analyst for Pakistan and Afghanistan in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 1999 to 2003. He is currently a scholar-in-residence at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. At Illinois, Dr. Weinbaum served for fifteen years as the director of the Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. His research, teaching, and consultancies have focused on the issues of national security, state building, democratization, and political economy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author or editor of six books and has written more than 100 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Weinbaum was awarded Fulbright Research Fellowships for Egypt in 1981-82 and Afghanistan in 1989-90, and was a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 1996-97. He has been the recipient of research awards from the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation, the American Political Science Association, and other granting agencies.