As we approach the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the 5th anniversary of the West's chaotic withdrawal, Afghanistan's problems have been overshadowed by Iran, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and Venezuela. Meanwhile, quite apart from its humanitarian and gender crises, the prospect of international terrorism continues to grow. A panel of security and intelligence experts will discuss the nature of the Taliban regime in both Kabul and Kandahar and the international community's engagement with it. It will take stock of the Security Council's decisions relating to the future of the 1988 sanctions regime. In addition, it will consider security within Afghanistan and whether terrorist groups based there can once again project an external threat.

Panellists

Colin Smith, co-ordinator of the UN Security Council’s 1267/1988 Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. He spent over 20 years as a British diplomat in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), focusing on national security issues, in particular counterterrorism. Previous roles include Head of the UK’s Syria Office in Istanbul, Türkiye (April 2015 to June 2017), engaging in the counter-Da’esh campaign in Syria, working with the Global Coalition. He was also seconded to the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels (May 2013 to January 2015) where he served as Counter Terrorism Expert Adviser, including steering EU Syria and Iraq counter terrorism and foreign terrorist fighters’ strategy.

Graham Aikin, a PhD candidate at King's who is researching the resurgence of terrorist groups both within and from Afghanistan since 2021. He spent several years as a senior private banker with Coutts & Co, where he developed an extensive knowledge of tax havens, terrorism financing and sanctions. Graham undertook a Master’s degree in Covert Action, HUMINT and the Psychology of Intelligence Elicitation and his dissertation focused on the Investigatory Power’s Commissioner’s role in overseeing the UK intelligence agencies treatment of detainees and the sharing of intelligence with their liaison partners. He recently published this article for King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI).

Facilitator

Tim Willasey-Wilsey, Visiting Professor at King's will act as facilitator. Tim, as a former senior British diplomat was first involved in Afghanistan in 1993 at the height of the civil war. Later as the British government's senior advisor on Counter Terrorism he tracked Al-Qaeda’s plans to attack the United States. For the 20th anniversary of 9/11 he wrote The British and 9/11: So Near and Yet So Far. Since early 2021 Tim has been campaigning to get members of Afghan Special Force 333 relocated to the UK. He also recently published the best-selling “The Spy and the Devil”.