The Afghanistan Foundation

From : Elite Watch

The Afghanistan Foundation (this is a reproduction of the original website which I have salvaged for posterity. The original address, http://www.afghanistanfoundation.org/, is now not working. The foundation was setup in 1996 with support from Zbigniew Brzezinski & Brent Scowcroft & worked to shape thinking in Washington about what could be done in Afghanistan. I'm hoping to look more into this in the future)


The foundation

The Afghanistan - America Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit, non-partisan, independent organization located in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol building. It was founded in May 1996 and was incorporated in the District of Columbia in October 1996 by former U.S Congressman Don Ritter (R-PA, 1979-1993) along with committed Afghan and American leaders.

In its overall structure, the Afghanistan - America Foundation serves as a vehicle for partnership between Afghans, Americans and others in the international community who wish to bring peace, stability, and prosperity to Afghanistan. It fosters public and governmental understanding regarding Afghanistan and its people. It seeks to promote more effective U.S. policies for peace, economic development, humanitarian assistance, cultural appreciation and, last but not least, a deeper understanding by the American public of the Afghan people's historic sacrifice and achievement in helping to bring about an end to the Cold War.

Since its inception, the Afghanistan - America Foundation has convened key players on the Afghanistan issue and has held educational and policymakers' forums, as well as "roundtables", in the U.S. Congress. It has testified at congressional hearings, and has begun an ongoing dialogue with the U.S. Congress and Administration on Afghanistan. It has met with key players in the region, including the Taliban, the Northern Alliance, and representatives from Pakistan, the Central Asian nations and Russia to seek positive, pro-active common ground among them. The Foundation works to reduce confrontation and enhance prospects for peace and stability in the region.

Congressman Ritter serves as Chairman and President of the Afghanistan - America Foundation. Congressman Ritter was one of the leading congressional proponents of U.S. assistance to the people of Afghanistan, and was founder of the Congressional Task Force on Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. For years he has played a major role in moving U.S. policy toward a higher level of positive and practical involvement in the Afghanistan issue.

In its first two years of activity, the Foundation has successfully initiated several major programs. In May 1998 the Foundation conducted a Research Mission to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. The primary objectives of this important mission were fact-finding and engagement of key players in order to create both an international Afghanistan Charter and a Seminal White Paper to inform Congress, the White House, Administration, the United Nations, and the international media. Both the Charter and the White Paper will seek to elevate, broaden, and deepen U.S. policy attention toward Afghanistan and the region.

The research mission and White Paper effort also serve as input to the Foundation's second major program, the Afghanistan Charter Project. The Charter will be a declaration of principles, drafted by Afghan scholars and leaders around the world, based on common values and essential elements of culture, history, national unity, education, and economic development. The Charter will represent an historic effort to define the ideals that will help to shape, strengthen, and unite Afghan society now and in the future.

The Foundation is in the process of expanding its current efforts with new programs, such as the National Unity Community Outreach Sectors (NUCOS) Project. NUCOS will consist of committees that will foster local dialogue and cooperation among communities of Afghan-Americans throughout the United States and abroad. Each outreach sector will seek to create meaningful activities that will bring awareness to current Afghan issues, and promote a sense of unity within the community. NUCOS will provide a constituency and a sounding board for the Foundation as it expands program development.

Alongside Congressman Ritter, the Foundation has convened the distinguished leadership and informative guidance of prominent scholars and specialists on Afghanistan and the region, as well as a bipartisan group of key Members of Congress and former diplomatic officials from Afghanistan and the United States. These form the Foundation's Board of Directors, Congressional Advisory Board, Diplomatic Advisory Board, and International Advisory Board.

The Foundation is honored to have as its National Honorary Co-Chairmen two former White House National Security Advisors, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski and Gen. Brent Scowcroft. Also closely advising and working with the Foundation are Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, RAND Corp.; Dr. Tom Gouttierre, Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska, Omaha, and Vice-President of the Afghanistan - America Foundation. Dr. Frederick Starr, former President of Oberlin College and now Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University; and Dr. Barnett Rubin, Council on Foreign Relations, serve on the Foundation's White Paper Task Force. Dr. Tom Greene, a retired career Foreign Service Officer and former Deputy Special Envoy to the Afghan Resistance, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation. The Foundation's staff consists of young Afghan and American scholars with expertise in human rights law, international relations, and Afghanistan politics and history.

In addition to the above listed individuals, the Foundation's Congressional Advisory Board serves as a channel of contact between the Foundation and senior Members of Congress, many of whom were members of the Congressional Task Force on Afghanistan during the 1980s and early 90s. Today, they serve in senior positions in Congress. Others on the Board are active on human rights issues or have numerous Afghan-American constituents. These include, but are not limited to: Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Congressman David Dreier, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Congressman Bill McCollum, Congressman James Moran, Congressman John Porter, Congressman Ed Royce, Congressman Gary Ackerman, Congressman Chris Smith, Congressman Tom Davis, and former Congressman Charles Wilson. Additional interested Members of Congress continue to join the Congressional Advisory Board as the Foundation grows.

The Diplomatic and International Advisory Boards also engage a cross section of leadership with the Foundation's work. Members include former Afghan and American Ambassadors, ex-State Department and senior diplomatic officials, intellectuals, business leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and private citizens. These individuals share information, ideas and perspectives with the Foundation by providing political, historical, ethnic, religious, cultural, intellectual, and international perspectives to the Chairman, the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, and others working with the Foundation.

The Foundation's proven track record demonstrates that it has established itself as the premier U.S.-based organization capable of raising the issue of Afghanistan at the highest levels of U.S. policy-making circles. The Foundation is in the process of enlarging its Board to include outstanding members of the Afghan Diaspora as well as concerned Americans.