US Embassy Rome Politico-Military Affairs
Key Takeaways:
When Mr. Nepal, leader of the Afghanistan evacuation from the US position in Rome and coordinator of President Biden's visit to the G20 summit, spoke to our club, I learned the sheer number of things one has to keep in mind when planning such an operation. I was also fascinated by the treatment of refugees in Italy versus the US, a difference that, I believe, has to do with Italian bureaucracy. In a lighthearted ending to the discussion, we learned that President Biden loves salmon.
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On Monday, November 15th, Ponte Nuovo students had the opportunity to discuss the recent evacuation of US troops, citizens, and friendly locals from Afghanistan to Italy and elsewhere in Europe. We were thrilled to have the leader of the operation from the US position in Rome join us as our guest. Mr. Nepal also shared his experiences as the lead coordinator of President Biden's visit to the G20 summit which had just concluded in Rome.
Mr. Nepal currently works at the US Embassy in Rome where he oversees all military affairs including the Afghanistan evacuation. Given the global significance of the situation and the difficult execution, it was a treat for a group of high school students to understand the current situation from someone so directly involved.
Mr. Nepal explained the evacuation from beginning to end — including his conversations with Italian officials whose permission to bring evacuees into Italy (even though they were coming to a US military base) was needed. He went on to share his perspective on the status of those people a few weeks after the operation's conclusion. Of particular interest to our group was Mr. Nepal's account of every precaution taken and all the factors that had to be considered in order to ensure the operation's success.
After all of our questions had been answered (and we were tested on our knowledge of the advanced materials he shared ahead of his visit), we shifted our focus to the recent G20 meeting held in Rome. This was a much more lighthearted conversation where we first discussed the agenda of the convention and finished by learning President Biden's dining preferences.
As this was the first symposium I had organized, I was unsure of how the student-participants would react. I was pleased to know that all of them walked away with a new perspective on the situation in Afghanistan and that they enjoyed the discussion.
