In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1 one How I Ended Up in Afghanistan February–July 2008 I was appointed NATO’s senior civilian representative for Afghanistan in early May 2008. It was sheer chance really, a combination of events. With the fall of the Prodi administration in February , I had to look for another job after two years as deputy diplomatic adviser to the prime minister. At the same time, NATO’s secretary general was looking for a new personal representative in Kabul, and the Italian Foreign Ministry had decided to put forward one of its diplomats for the position, so that secured me a place on the list of candidates. I was keen; I was looking for a new challenge to sink my teeth into, and I looked forward to the interview. Afghanistan had always fascinated me and, more than ever, it was now at the center of the international stage. Moreover, the role of civilian representative of the leading organization (even if it was military in nature) present in the country promised to be interesting, especially since the international community was relentlessly demanding a political solution to the crisis. My father encouraged me and this was of fundamental importance; in the past we had never discussed my choice of overseas postings, and I had simply informed him when it was all decided. This time, however, leaving Italy would be different because he had just been diagnosed with a form of stomach cancer and had been given a very poor prognosis. In some aspects, my father was like my grandfather, and in turn my grandfather was like all those who had experienced a war and its aftermath . Work for my father and generations before was virtually the be-all and end-all, and when a big opportunity came your way, you grabbed it with both hands without giving it too much thought. My father made me understand this while we were having dinner together, the evening 01-2423-0 ch1.indd 1 6/3/13 1:49 PM 2 Afghan Lessons after he’d started his chemotherapy. We were talking about skiing, as we always did, when out of the blue he told me he was sure they’d offer me the job, and that I’d be doing the right thing if I accepted it. in early april I was selected for an interview with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary general of NATO. We spoke for half an hour; I was very frank and to the point, mainly because I felt the “right chemistry” was there. I told him I knew very little about Afghanistan, but I did have good multilateral experience and I knew the mechanisms used by the international community in crisis situations. I also told him that a few years earlier, in the Balkans, I’d already met Kai Eide, the Norwegian diplomat who had begun to coordinate international civilian activities on behalf of the United Nations and with which NATO would be working in Kabul. De Hoop Scheffer knew that I’d had a similar assignment in the Balkans a few years before, working for Javier Solana, high representative for European Union common foreign and security policy. He was also hopeful that an Italian diplomat would have more of a chance of winning Afghan trust, since—as I later discovered—NATO was struggling in that respect, to say the least. A couple of weeks later I got a call from Ambassador Giampiero Massolo , the Italian Foreign Ministry’s secretary general; he confirmed that I’d been given the assignment and it was time to start packing. That afternoon I went to browse the bookshops in the center of Rome. In the evening I had dinner with my mother, and then I went to the cinema with my partner, Francesca, to see The Kite Runner, a movie based on Khaled Hosseini’s bestseller. Francesca had hoped for a different decision and wasn’t at all happy about a relationship that in a few days’ time would be conducted on Skype. Before we went into the cinema, I texted Kai Eide in Kabul to tell him I’d got the job and how happy I was that we’d be working together. When the movie was over, I turned the cell back on and found his reply, “We’ll make a good team!” which sounded encouraging and was an incentive to prepare myself as best I could. in the weeks before my departure, just like anyone else given an international assignment...

Share