Hekmat Karzai

Mr. Hekmat Karzai "is currently the Director of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS), one of the leading research centers in Kabul, Afghanistan.

"Prior to his current position, he served as a RMS Fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore, where his primary focus was the South and Central Asia regions. He conducted research in development, Security and conflict and is considered an authority on Afghanistan. He teaches various courses on conflict and security and serves as non-resident Senior Fellow at the East West Institute in Brussels. From 2004 till 2005, he served as an International Fellow at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he conducted research on Terrorism, Militancy, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Al Qaeda movement.

"Mr. Hekmat Karzai was appointed as the Head of the Political Department at the Embassy of Afghanistan at Washington, D.C. in May of 2002. His duties included overseeing daily political and congressional affairs, serving as a direct link to the diplomatic and political community to liaise with US Congress and Executive Branch on policies, security, funding and other vital issues pertaining to Afghanistan.

"Mr. Karzai has appeared on BBC World Service TV, CNN, CNN International, Al Jazeera English, among others.

"He has addressed the European Parliament and many think tanks including the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London) and Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, DC). He has lectured in prestigious institutions of higher learning such as Harvard and Tufts University on security and state building.

"Mr. Karzai’s Masters Degree dissertation titled ‘Strengthening Security in Contemporary Afghanistan: Coping with the Taliban’ was published by the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. His study on suicide terrorism in Afghanistan ‘How to curve the rising suicide terrorism in Afghanistan’ was the first on the subject and was published by the Christian Science Monitor and the Straits Times (Singapore). He has written extensively on Afghanistan, security (terrorism and insurgency) and governance and his articles have been translated in many languages.

"Mr. Karzai was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan and in addition to English has native fluency in Pashto and Dari. He is also fluent in Urdu (Hindi)."