Afghanistan on the Map
Tamim Ansary Presents Common Reading Experience Lecture
September 15, 2005

Story and photos by Jake Weber

ALBION, Mich. —  A capacity crowd of 700 students, faculty and community members gathered in Goodrich Chapel on Sept. 14 to hear Tamim Ansary, author of the College's 2005 Richard Smith Common Reading Experience.

The son of an Afghan university professor and an American teacher, Ansary lived in Afghanistan until his mid-teens, when he and his family emigrated to the U.S.  His award-winning 2002 memoir, "West of Kabul, East of New York" led in part to his current importance as an Afghan-American who helps other Americans understand the humanity and culture of his native country.

In his Albion address, Ansary discussed his recent visit to Afghanistan, after a 38-year exile, the desire of Afghans to rebuild their country post-Taliban, and the U.S. government's failure to adequately support the reconstruction.  "Afghans were promised a 'Marshall Plan for Afghanistan,' and that didn't happen," he said, stating that the rebuilding of Afghanistan holds great benefit for the U.S. as well.  "With terrorists, you have to ask, 'What is their agenda?' -- and with the insurgents in Afghanistan, what they want is to disrupt the peace and create stature for themselves in the Muslim world," he noted.  "The U.S. is a mighty country, but we can't fight against that.  The way to defeat these kinds of groups is to establish peaceful and stable societies."

“West of Kabul” appeared on “best” lists published in 2003 by Amazon.com, the Christian Science Monitor, the School Library Journal and the New York Times, among others.  Ansary is the author of dozens of books, most for children, and he frequently appears on the Bill Moyers Show, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Hardball, and numerous National Public Radio stations.