Hamdullah Mohib
Hamdullah Mohib (born 1983) is an Afghan diplomat. He currently serves as the Afghan ambassador to the United States.
Early life
Mohib was born in a small village north of Jalalabad in 1983. He was the youngest of eleven children. Mohib's father worked in Kabul as a court clerk.[1]
Mohib's family fled the Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, becoming Afghan refugees. The family returned home after the end of the Soviet invasion, but fled once more to Pakistan after a renewed civil war broke out.[1]
Education and career
When Mohib was sixteen years old, his family sent him to London. He attended community college and then Brunel University, earning a degree in computer systems engineering.[1] Mohib acquired British citizenship.[1]
After seven years in the UK, Mohib returned to Afghanistan,[1] becoming director of information technology at the American University of Afghanistan.[2] During the 2009 Afghan presidential election, Mohib worked on the campaign of Afghan finance minister Ashraf Ghani, who came in fourth place, losing to incumbent President Hamid Karzai.[1]
Mohib then returned to the UK to study for his Ph.D., completing it in 2014. In the same year, Mohib again became an aide to Ghani, who won the 2014 Afghan presidential election. After Ghani assumed office, Mohib became his deputy chief of staff; one year later, Mohib was appointed Afghan ambassador to the United States. Mohib was just 32 years old and had no prior diplomatic experience.[1] Mohib formally presented his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama in September 2015.[1]
As ambassador, Mohib has emphasized the need to strengthen the U.S.-Afghan partnership on shared areas of interest, including economic development, anti-corruption efforts, and counterterrorism.[3]
Personal life
Mohib married Lael Adams, an American expert on Afghanistan, in 2011.[1]
According to TOLOnews, Mohib is fluent in English, Pashto, and Dari and proficient in Urdu.[4]
Works by Mohib
- Hamdullah Mohib, How Afghanistan Can Succeed, CNN (September 30, 2015).
- —, A Grassroots Democracy for Afghanistan, Foreign Policy (June 27, 2011).
- —, Letter to the Editor: An Ashraf Ghani Government in Afghanistan Would Give Out Jobs Only Based on Merit, Washington Post (September 22, 2016).
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Roxanne Roberts, What does Afghanistan need? Some major rebranding, says its 32-year-old ambassador, Washington Post (April 21, 2016).
- ↑ Lael Mohib & Hamdullah Mohib, Can Civil Society Save Afghanistan?, Foreign Policy (August 16, 2012).
- ↑ Farishta Jalalzai, Afghanistan Envoy In Washington Optimistic Over Continued Support, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (June 27, 2016).
- ↑ Faridullah Hussainkhail, Hamdullah Mohib the New Afghan Envoy to US, TOLOnews (September 18, 2015).
External links
- Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib Discusses Anti-Taliban Efforts in Afghanistan — video of panel discussion at the Hudson Institute, made available by C-SPAN
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eklil Ahmad Hakimi |
Afghan ambassador to the United States 2015-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |