Afghanistan in focus: Launch of two new volumes

The Initiative for Peacebuilding at the University of Melbourne invites you to join in the launch of two new edited volumes on Afghanistan: Mapping Futures for Afghanistan (Routledge) edited by Arif Saba, Abbas Farasoo, Farkhondeh Akbari, and Niamatullah Ibrahimi (Initiative for Peacebuilding), and Afghanistan and International Relations (Routledge) edited By William Maley, Ali Yawar Adili, and Paul Lushenko.

These edited volumes offer critical and forward-looking analyses on Afghanistan’s politics, society, and international relations from diverse scholarly and disciplinary perspectives. Mapping Futures for Afghanistan features scholars from Afghanistan, offering locally grounded and academically rigorous perspectives on the country's political, economic, and human rights challenges, and mapping future possibilities after decades of war and instability. Afghanistan and International Relations takes Afghanistan as a point of departure to engage International Relations scholarship on themes such as diplomacy, international law, war, gender politics, democratisation, refugee movements, and globalisation.  Together, the volumes complement one another in providing a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of Afghanistan’s contemporary challenges and future possibilities. The books will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers alike.

The books will be launched by Martine Letts (University of Melbourne), followed by remarks from Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh (Deakin University) and discussions with editors of the volumes.

Martine Letts is Group CEO of Asialink at the University of Melbourne. A former Australian Ambassador and senior leader across government, policy, and non-profit sectors, she has held roles with the Lowy Institute, the Australian Red Cross, and the Committee for Melbourne.

Shahram Akbarzadeh is Professor of Middle East and Central Asian Politics and Director of the Middle East Studies Forum at Deakin University. A former ARC Future Fellow and Australia’s leading researcher in Middle East and Islamic Studies (The Australian Special Report, 2020), his research focuses on Central Asia, Islam, and international relations in the Middle East.