Date ｜Thursday, March 24
Time｜1.30-3.30 PM (GMT+8)

In 2021, the Biden administration officially withdrew US troops from Afghanistan and ended the ‘forever war’ since 2001. Subsequent to the US military withdrawal in August 2021, the Taliban has controlled the major cities in Afghanistan; it also announced a new government in Kabul in September 2021. Critics argue that Taliban’s takeover would cause humanitarian crisis and destabilize regional order. Besides, issues related to refugees, human right abuse, drug-trafficking, terrorism, and political violence, are concerned by various human-right groups, and the broader international society. Apart from the Afghanistan issue, the continuing war in Ukraine is widely discussed by IR scholars, political elites, and security analysts in the past few weeks. According to the UN Refugee Agency, since February 2022, over three million refugees have fled to Ukraine’s neighboring countries, and approximately 2 million people are estimated to be internally displaced. The mini symposium/conference organized by Center for Studies on South Asia and the Middle East (CSSAME), National Chung Hsing University, provides a platform for scholars to exchange their opinions about the current and future situations in Afghanistan, the greater Middle East, and Ukraine.

Discussants:

Dr Takuro Kikkawa, Professor, Ritsumeikan Asian Pacific University
Dr Sana Hashmi, Visiting Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Dr Hafiza Yazdani, Former UN Women and USAID Researcher
Dr Chin-Kuei Tsui, Associate Professor, National Chung Hsing University