LISD, in conjunction with Near Eastern Studies and the Woodrow Wilson School , sponsored a panel discussion, “Afghanistan: Its Elections and Future,” on Thursday, October 21, 2004 in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall on the Princeton University campus. Experts discussed what was characterized as a surprisingly peaceful and - except for a small dispute - rather orderly first ever presidential elections in Afghanistan.

The panel included Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad, Ambassador of Afghanistan to the US; Ambassador Robert Finn, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Ertegun Visiting Professor of Turcology at Princeton University; Ambassador Michael Schmunk, former Personal Envoy of German Chancellor Schroeder to Afghanistan, and Visiting Diplomat in Residence at the German Institute for International Politics and Security, Berlin; and Ambassador Mufit Ozdes, former Ambassador of Turkey to Afghanistan.  The panel was moderated by LISD Director, Wolfgang Danspeckgruber.

The panel discussion was a part of the ongoing LISD project on "Building State and Security in Afghanistan," a project supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.