In this episode of Battlegrounds, H. R. McMaster and Afghan Lieutenant General Sami Sadat discuss the events that contributed to the fall of Afghanistan, the flawed assumptions that led to US withdrawal, and how the US government and Afghan resistance can jointly support both the Afghan state and, in turn, global security. H.R. McMaster in conversation with Lieutenant General Sami Sadat, Afghan National Army, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Lieutenant General Sami Sadat is the chairman of Sadat Consultants Limited, an Intelligence and Risk management company based in London. General Sadat was former Commanding General of the Afghan National Special Operations Corps, where he commanded the Afghan National Army’s 215 Maiwand Corps in southwestern Afghanistan and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). General Sadat also served as a senior director in the Afghan intelligence services. He is a graduate of the Joint Services Command and Staff College at the Defence Academy of the U.K. and the NATO Military Academy in Munich, Germany. H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. ABOUT THE SERIES Battlegrounds provides a needed forum with leaders from key countries to share their assessment of problem sets and opportunities that have implications for U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy. Each episode features H.R. McMaster in a one-on-one conversation with a senior foreign government leader to allow Americans and partners abroad to understand how the past produced the present and how we might work together to secure a peaceful and prosperous future. “Listening and learning from those who have deep knowledge of our most crucial challenges is the first step in crafting the policies we need to secure peace and prosperity for future generations.” For more information, visit: https://www.hoover.org/battlegrounds_perspectives. Pick up a copy of "Battlegrounds: The Fight To Defend The Free World," by H.R. McMaster here - https://www.hoover.org/research/battlegrounds-fight-defend-free-world.