- James Fergusson (journalist, author of Kandahar Cockney and A Million Bullets)
- Clare Lockhart (Director of the Insitute for State Effectiveness, former adviser to the UN and Afghan Government, co-author of Fixing Failed States)
- David Loyn (BBC Developing World Correspondent, author of Butcher and Bolt)
- Chaired by Professor Jean Seaton (Director of the Orwell Prize, author of Carnage and the Media)
The fourth of the Orwell Prize’s events at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2009.
What has foreign intervention achieved in Afghanistan? Operation Enduring Freedom was the first front in the ‘War on Terror’ to be opened following the attacks of September 11th 2001, and sought to remove the Taliban, the repressive regime which had allowed Osama bin Laden to operate in Afghanistan. Seven years later, the fighting continues – has intensified even – and foreign troops still lack an exit strategy. What does Afghanistan’s future look like?