Ali Ahmad Jalali

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Originally from Afghanistan, Ali Ahmad Jalali is an American politician, diplomat, and military officer. Apart from his role as Afghanistans Interior Minister, Mr. Jalali has also held the position of distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He made headlines in August 2021 after his name appeared in the media as the most likely candidate for the interim Afghanistan administration under Taliban control.He grew up in Kabul, where he earned his early education and learned the basics of politics and military tactics.During his military career, he served in command, educational, and staff positions, earning a final rank of colonel.While serving as a colonel in the Afghan National Army, Mr. Jalali played a vital role in the Afghan resistance during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.Colonel Jalali served as the leader of the resistance movement in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s.At the time of the Soviet invasion, he also served as a professor at the Foreign Ministrys Institute of Diplomacy, and as a top advisor at the Afghan Resistance HQ in Peshawar, Pakistan.Between August 1982 and January 2003, he worked extensively at Voice of America in Washington, D.C. as a writer, a broadcaster, and chief of the Pashto, Dari and Farsi services, among other things.Ali Ahmad Jalali quit Voice of America in January 2003 to serve as Afghanistans Interior Minister. US officials are said to have picked him to revamp the perennially weak Afghan government.Between 1982 and 1993, Mr. Jalali extensively covered Afghanistans war as a journalist in the United States. Additionally, he covered the former Soviet Central Asia war from 1993 to 2000.Mr. Jalali travelled extensively throughout Iran and Central Asia while working as a journalist in the United States.