Born in New York City in 1948 but raised in France and partly in Afghanistan and fluent in many languages including English and French, Spanish and Italian, Arabic and Persian (he has published many prize-winning works in both English and French), Pr Barry taught at Princeton University from 2004 to 2016 and is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost Western experts on Afghanistan where his work over five decades has ranged from defence of human rights to coordinating humanitarian assistance for Medecins du Monde and the United Nations to teaching as Distinguished Professor at the American University of Afghanistan. Also an acknowledged expert on Islamic art, he advised the current installations of Islamic art at New York's Metropolitan Museum. Pr Barry was knighted by France as Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 2020 for his French-language writings and for outstanding educational and humanitarian service. His latest book on the present Afghan crisis, "Le Cri afghan", written directly in French and published by L'Asiatheque, comes out on 13 October 2021.

 

Near Eastern Studies Professor, Princeton University

Participation in the sessions of the Forum
2021
 Edition
Debate