HART Oral Histories Project Documents Loss, Grief, and Resilience After Afghanistan’s 2021 Collapse

Halima Kazem speaks about her work documenting the experiences of people who fought and endured during the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan in Hoover’s Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)

Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster speaks about the war in Afghanistan during a panel discussion on the war in Afghanistan held in Hoover’s Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)

An excerpt from the Hoover Afghanistan Research & Relief Team’s new oral histories project is shown in Hoover’s Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)

A panel speaking about the war in Afghanistan and Hoover’s new oral histories project is seen in Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)

Former Afghan Air Force Maj. Mahdi Ahmadi speaks about his experience fleeing Kandahar during the fall of Afghanistan in August 2021. (Patrick Beaudouin)

Journalist Farahnaz Forotan speaks about her experience covering peace negotiations in Qatar in 2020-2021 during a panel discussion on the war in Afghanistan held in Hoover’s Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)

Mahnaz Akbari speaks about her experiences during the war in Afghanistan during a panel discussion on the war in Afghanistan held in Hoover’s Shultz Auditorium on April 9, 2026. (Patrick Beaudouin)