David H. Young

Conflict & Governance Advisor @SIGARHQ, @InterpeaceTweet, @WorldBank, @USIP, @AdamSmithInt, @IDLGAFG, fmr civilian advisor to ISAF in eastern AFG

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

An exceptional team I had the honor of leading at @SIGARHQ has written a 20-year retrospective on the U.S. effort to rebuild Afghanistan. Much of the country's deeply unsettling trajectory is our fault. Understanding how we got here is important. [thread] https://t.co/HLIyptpk2A

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

The Foreign Service Journal (@afsatweets) published an essay I wrote detailing how U.S. officials are incentivized to distort and embellish about progress in U.S. foreign assistance, why it's often not their fault, and what to do about it. https://t.co/lUyXHJTD8r

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

It was an honor to testify before the German Bundestag (Parliament) about lessons from our failed collective efforts to rebuild Afghanistan. Full video here: https://t.co/6zz2Cbj8GH

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

I'm proud to have led the talented team that wrote SIGAR's latest report, "Why the Afghan Security Forces Collapsed,” which details the short and long term factors leading to the ANDSF’s collapse. https://t.co/xZ0xBcqdDL

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

Excited to announce the publication of a paper I wrote for Interpeace mapping out different stabilization stakeholders, analyzes how stabilization efforts are conceived and structured, and offers best practices for interventions. https://t.co/oQqLc8Z15a

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

@JCourtright08 @newlinesmag Superb work, James.

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

I’m glad to see my team’s year-old SIGAR report is still valuable in explaining why we lost the war. Thank you @FareedZakaria for drawing attention to it.

[Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria]

I suspect America will always be the plywood imperialist.

My take:

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

@RichardGowan1 @LaurelMillerICG That much cash needed a visual to be effective. We considered “six trunks” but who uses those anymore? We also considered “the size of a coffin” but that was too dark. So we landed on a couch and comically had to use Wayfair to prove its measurements to our fact checkers.

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

...After interviewing more than 30 former senior officials across the government--including many who flew out with Ghani--this report tells the story of the day Afghanistan collapsed, and whether and how money might have been stolen amid the chaos.
https://t.co/YZ6mo6aWJV

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

Today my team at SIGAR published a report investigating the allegations that President Ghani and other senior Afghan officials fled the country last August with many millions of dollars in cash, either on their helicopters or through other avenues...
https://t.co/YZ6mo6aWJV

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

It was an honor and a pleasure to speak with @OnPointRadio today about our efforts to protect and evacuate vulnerable Afghans.

[On Point @OnPointRadio]

Tune in: When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan last year, thousands of Afghans who'd worked for the U.S. military were left behind.

We discuss Operation North Star and the military veterans working to protect Afghans from the Taliban. https://t.co/KvLAGTN5T8

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

@JPapoulidis @SIGARHQ @StanfordCISAC @FSIStanford @SURGE_UNDP @Yantheyanthe @jan_jilles Thank you, Jonathan. That’s kind of you to say, and thank you for helping spread the word.

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

@joshuahersh Agreed. That’s exactly why we wrote this: https://t.co/HLIyptpk2A

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

The report was featured on Last Week with John Oliver. https://t.co/NgCwiH89K3

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

An exceptional team I had the honor of leading at @SIGARHQ has written a 20-year retrospective on the U.S. effort to rebuild Afghanistan. Much of the country's deeply unsettling trajectory is our fault. Understanding how we got here is important. [thread] https://t.co/HLIyptpk2A

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

An interactive summary of the report is available here: https://t.co/Ry92f6Jmtf

The full PDF is available here: https://t.co/HLIyptpk2A

[David H. Young @youngdavidh]

@MichaelKugelman @SIGARHQ Thank you, Michael. Hope it’s helpful.