Former Ambassador Ryan Crocker To Discuss State-Building In Afghanistan

Former ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker will discuss state-building in the country at a virtual event Thursday, Oct. 21 hosted by the Texas A&M University Bush School of Government and Public Service’s Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs.

Crocker, a former dean of the Bush School, will speak on the history and consequences of U.S. state-building in Afghanistan with Bush School Executive Professor and Scowcroft Institute Director Andrew Natsios. The event will be held via Zoom beginning at 6 p.m. The discussion is open to the public. Register online to attend.

Crocker was a member of the Foreign Service for 37 years. After retiring, he was recalled to active duty by former President Barack Obama in 2011 to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Crocker’s previous ambassadorial appointments include Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Lebanon. In January 2002, former President George W. Bush assigned him to Afghanistan to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. For his service, Crocker received the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for “exceptional courage and leadership” in Afghanistan.

Crocker also served as the dean of Texas A&M’s Bush School from 2010 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2016.

Natsios served as the USAID Administrator from 2001 to 2006 and oversaw infrastructure development, reconstruction, emergency and crisis response, policy reform, global health, democracy and governance, and humanitarian relief programs across the world, with particular emphasis in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.