"Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan is the country’s most pressing foreign policy priority and is likely to remain so for several years. Afghanistan represents Canada’s biggest military engagement in fifty years; it is the largest recipient of Canadian bilateral development assistance; and it is the focus of intensive diplomatic engagement, both within Afghanistan and internationally. The complex and multifaceted intervention has presented a seminal test for every branch of Canada’s foreign policy establishment."

This report draws on the extraordinarily successful Town Hall event on "The Way Forward in Afghanistan" organized by the Canadian International Council (CIC), in cooperation with The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), at CIGI headquarters on December 9, 2008.

(Image credit: Flickr user Canada in Afghanistan / Canada en Afghanistan)