Ashraf Ghani
Economics taught in most of the elite universities are practically useless in my context. My country is dominated by drug economy and a mafia. Textbook economics does not work in my context, and I have very few recommendations from anybody as to how to put together a legal economy.Collection: Legal
My entire life has been guided by a sense of equality, equality for loved ones.Collection: Equality
Peace is not a luxury. Peace is a necessity.Collection: Peace
Afghanistan's geographical location gives it the opportunity to become one of the biggest transit routes in the region. It can connect Southern, Eastern and Central Asia to the Middle East.
Self-reliance is not just words, but deeds.
There's a Darwinian struggle amongst terror groups for hegemony. Da'esh has broken out of the pack because Al-Qaeda and the rest rendered allegiance to Mullah Omar.
If al-Qaida, all apologies to Microsoft for the analogy, is Windows 1, Daish is Windows 5.
We've had a difficult legacy of 40 years, and cleaning up is not going to be a one day job. But we are engaged in a systematic effort, we have not allowed formation of new militia groups, and we are reforming the local police systematically so that there won't be abuse.
If we looked in the world of 1945 and looked at the map of capitalist economies and democratic polities, they were the rare exception, not the norm.
Money is not capital in most of the developing countries. It's just cash. Because it lacks the institutional, organizational, managerial forms to turn it into capital.
You would think that the U.S. government would not think that American firms needed subsidizing to function in developing countries, provide advice, but they do.
My father's mother really had a profound influence on me. She literally began her day with an hour of reading. But the most fundamental impact was education.
You can get together, you can talk as much as you want, but if there's not a decision-making process - that's where democracy really matters.
When we get peace in Afghanistan, we'll go to New Zealand to learn best practices for raising sheep. We'll go to Switzerland and study hydroelectric projects.
Organizations are accumulations of historical debris. They are not consciously thought. So when you ask the Education Ministry 'What's your core function and who's your client?' they laugh at you. When I say that the client is the Afghan child - and the Ministry is an instrument, not the goal - it's greeted with shock. It's a new idea.
President Obama called me on his last day in office and said the only person who never asked him for anything was me.
In 2001, we didn't have an army; we had remnants of a dissolved army that had no hope. Our generals had literally become busboys.
Pathology by Daesh is distinctively to swallow its opponents, to frighten the population. In that regard, the threat is very real.
President Truman made his name by looking into contracting. And that's how integrity within the military procurement started in the United States.
There's no place for mob justice in Afghanistan.
Particularly the mark for success for us would be that a woman can not only walk in the streets of every major city, but can go from one province to another without any hindrance.
Afghanistan cannot be a burden on the international community and it has to become an asset.
The first principle of tackling corruption is that you do not engage in it and you have the will to confront it.
If election is your goal, you're never going to engage in reform. Reform has to be your goal. Election is the means. You run for office in order to do something, not in order to perpetuate yourself.
Politicians have become extraordinarily conservative, but our times require imagination and bold action.
I have a strange - because there's no other way probably of describing it - uh, temper. I'm a very difficult taskmaster. I don't wait.
This hand is free of blood, and this hand is free from the stain of corruption.
You know, America has profoundly shaped me, and I have two American children and unbelievably rich friendships so it will always be a source of joy and good memories.
We develop sentiments that we are only going to work with people like us. But you don't build up a nation by working with people like you. You overcome a history of conflict by reaching out to people very much unlike you.
Sovereignty of Afghanistan must be accepted categorically by Pakistan so that we can move forward.
As long as I am president, the rights of women will be protected.
The privileged elites are part of the globalization moment that we live in.
Crisis for others is a source of despair. For me, it's an opportunity to bring reform.
President Karzai was an accidental president. There was no paradigm for the conditions he faced, because no one could have imagined 9/11. He had to improvise under very difficult conditions to hold this country together.
The key demand for me from the public across the 34 provinces is to transform the state into an instrument of the rule of law, transform the economy into a productive system and change the education system.
I want to differentiate between stability and security: Stability comes from the hearts of people and acceptance of the judicial system. Security comes from the barrel of a gun and the threat of the use of force.
At the end of any peace deal, the decision-maker will be the government of Afghanistan.
No power in the country can dissolve the government.
Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be dogmas.
Mecca and Medinah is a very special place in the hearts of every Muslim but particularly for every Afghan.
Afghanistan fortunately is one of the richest countries in terms of water, mineral resources, location and human capital.
Afghanistan is moving to really becoming an export-oriented country.
Peace cannot come without the government of Afghanistan speaking directly to the Taliban or the Taliban talking directly to us.
Thank God there has been no recurrence of 9/11. It is not because of luck - it is because of mass sacrifice and effort.
President Trump is engaging and if you get your points across then he asks you questions.
When I talk to another Afghan I am his or her equal and that moves me to tears.
I went to Pakistan; I engaged in peace. If a hand extended is not shaken, what are you supposed to do?
My central objective is, turn Afghanistan's location into a greater asset. Central Asia is becoming Afghanistan's major trading partner. The vision of connectivity is really important.
Every global leader that I have seen has at least agreed on one point: I do have the world's most difficult job. But I hope to make it easier for my successor.
We need to get a stable Afghanistan that can ensure the security of Americans, Europeans, and others on the one hand, but more fundamentally our own democratic rights and institutions.