February 4, 2015 - The Middle East Institute's Louis R. Hughes Lecture Series welcomed Robert L. Grenier (ERG Partners) for a discussion of his new book, 88 Days to Kandahar: A CIA Diary (Simon & Schuster, 2015). During his time as CIA station chief in Islamabad from 1999-2002, Grenier directed the "southern campaign" of the first American-Afghan war, which orchestrated the downfall of the Taliban and Hamid Karzai's subsequent rise to power over the course of 88 days. In his new book, Grenier reflects on the internal politics of Afghanistan at the time, looking back at the crucial players and the development of a national policy that contributed to the toppling of the Taliban and the routing of al-Qaida in Afghanistan. The conversation examined contemporary counterterrorism campaigns and diplomacy efforts on an international scale.
