This event features discussion about the practical steps for the search for peace in Afghanistan. This effort has moved to center stage in recent months following President Ashraf Ghani’s late February peace offer to the Taliban, a series of major international conferences that consolidated support for a peace deal, and a wave of pro-peace demonstrations across Afghanistan. Crucial questions nonetheless remain: What it will take to get the Taliban to join peace talks in earnest? What will a prospective peace agreement look like? How does the peace process affect the Afghan and international military campaign?

Panel 1: Top-Down Peace: Negotiations, the Taliban, and the Shape of a Deal

Steve Brooking, Director of Peace and Reconciliation, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)Laurel Miller, Former State Department Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and PakistanBarnett Rubin, Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Center for International Cooperation, New York UniversityRahmatullah Amiri, Senior Researcher, The Liaison Office (TLO)Moderator: Johnny Walsh, Senior Expert on Afghanistan, U.S. Institute of Peace

Panel 2: Bottom-Up Peace: Militias, Reintegration and Local Accommodations

Michael Semple, Visiting Professor, Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Queen's University, BelfastKate Clark, Director, Afghanistan Analysts NetworkErica Gaston, Non-Resident Fellow, Global Public Policy InstituteNilofar Sakhi, Lecturer, George Mason UniversityModerator: Scott Worden, Director of Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace

Closing Remarks with Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan Ambassador to the United States