Stability, development, and security during the Afghanistan transition
How has USAID sought to promote stability and order in Afghanistan? What is USAID's three-fold transition strategy? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these...
ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW: How has USAID sought to promote stability and order in Afghanistan? What is USAID’s three-fold transition strategy? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Larry Sampler, Assistant to the Administrator & Director, Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, USAID.
GUEST BIOGRAPHY:(Courtesy of the IBM Center for the Business of Government) Donald “Larry” Sampler serves as assistant to the administrator in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs (OAPA) leading USAID’s efforts for the agency’s two largest missions. Sampler brings his considerable experience in the private sector, the military, and in post and intra-conflict missions of both the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations. More recently, he served as a senior official in the US government focused on a whole of government approach to reconstruction and stabilization. He has travelled to Afghanistan and/or Pakistan over 60 times since 2001 and lived in Kabul for several years. From early 2011 to May 2013, Sampler was senior deputy assistant to the administrator in OAPA working on Afghanistan and management issues. From August 2009 through early 2011, Sampler was vice president and director of the Communities in Transition Division of Creative Associates International. Sampler has substantial experience in conflict and post-conflict environments working for USAID, the U.S. Department of State, the Institute for Defense Analyses, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the OSCE mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2002, Sampler worked with the Afghan Constitutional Loya Jirga and the Afghan Emergency Loya Jirga. For his support to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and key role in coordinating the two jirgas, President Hamid Karzai awarded Sampler the Constitutional Medal. Sampler graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) with a degree in Physics. His also pursued graduate studies with GIT’s Technology and Science Policy Program where he examined the role of technology in quality-of-life improvements for developing nations. He also has a graduate degree in Diplomacy from Norwich University.
