Dean Rusk Lecture: Two Decades of Rebuilding Afghanistan: Lessons for Future U.S. Efforts in Ukraine, the Sahel, and Beyond

David Young '05 is a conflict and governance advisor with extensive field experience in six conflict/post-conflict environments (Afghanistan, the Sahel, Israel/Palestine, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Northern Ireland).

He currently works as a U.S. official for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), where he leads a lessons learned team focused on stabilization, governance, democracy, and humanitarian assistance. In the past, he has worked as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense, the World Bank, the U.S. Institute of Peace, Adam Smith International, and Interpeace.

He has testified before the German Parliament and regularly lectures at universities including Princeton, Stanford, and Georgetown. His work has been featured on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show, HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, CNN's Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, and NPR’s On Point. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and Le Monde Diplomatique.