You are cordially invited to a lecture on the topic of
Royalty, Tribal Governance, and a Possible Path out of the Afghan Quagmire
with
Prince Ali Seraj
Head of the National Coalition for Dialogue with the Tribes of Afghanistan
Tuesday, February 23
4:30 PM
The Institute of World Politics
1521 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Parking map
Afghanistan long has proven difficult to manage by outside powers. Prince Ali Seraj believes that the problems of Afghanistan are located at four distinct and progressively important levels: political, social, economic and, most importantly, tribal. Without tribal unification, Afghanistan cannot sustain economic development or social cohesiveness. A stable political solution, he argues, can only occur when the social, economic and tribal realities of Afghanistan are acknowledged and subsequently addressed.
Prince Ali Seraj is a direct descendant of nine generations of Kings of Afghanistan. He is the nephew of His Majesty King Amanullah (1919-1929), known as the Victor of Afghanistan, the grandson of His Majesty Amir Habibullah (1901-1919), the great-grandson of His Majesty Amir Abdurrahman (1880-1901), known as the Iron King. His ancestry continues on to His Majesty Amir Dost Mohammad who assumed the throne in 1827.
After the communist coup d’états in 1978, Prince Ali escaped to the United States and made a successful career in business development, sales, and marketing. He also helped establish several multi-million dollar businesses in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. Prince Ali worked very closely with the Reagan and Bush administrations during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. attack on the Taliban/Al Qaeda, respectively. He returned to Afghanistan after decades of exile to continue his charitable work. Since then, Prince Ali has developed a very important relationship with all the different tribes in Afghanistan as a result of his involvement with his country’s people. Due to this relationship, Prince Ali has embarked on a mission to unite the Tribes as one, and established a movement under the name, “National Coalition for Dialogue with Tribes of Afghanistan.”
Today, Prince Ali assists NATO commanders with setting up meetings among tribal and religious elders to establish a dialogue of common understanding between Coalition Forces and locals. He is also assisting ISAF commanders in establishing a security network in the district of Kabul through his contacts with different tribal elders.