{{Short description|Afghan American politician and diplomat (born 1990)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ali Nazary | image = Ali Maisam Nazary (cropped 2).jpg | office = Head of Foreign Relations of the National Resistance Front | term_start = August 2021 | term_end = | 1blankname = Leader | 1namedata = Ahmad Massoud | predecessor = ''Office established'' | successor = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1990}} | alma_mater = University of California, Los Angeles<br>London School of Economics | native_name_lang = prs | native_name = علی نظری | birth_place = Afghanistan }} '''Ali Maisam Nazary'''{{Efn|{{langx|prs|علیمیثم نظری}}}} (born 1990) is an Afghan politician and diplomat who has served since 2021 as the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front (NRF), of which he is a founding member.<ref name="founding">{{cite book|last=Massoud|first=Ahmad|title=In the Name of My Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan|publisher=Republic Book Publishers|year=2024|isbn=9781645720966|pages=151-152}}</ref>
== Education == Ali Maisam Nazary was born to a Qiziblash family.<ref name="Daily Bruin">{{cite web |author=Megan McCallister |date=2021-10-11 |title=Alumnus Ali Maisam Nazary educates about Taliban takeover, crisis from new role |url=https://dailybruin.com/2021/10/11/alumnus-ali-maisam-nazary-educates-about-taliban-takeover-crisis-from-new-role |publisher=The Daily Bruin}}</ref> He is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles and the London School of Economics.<ref name="Massoud Foundation">{{cite web |title=Massoud Foundation Board of Directors |url=https://www.massoudfoundation.us/about-us |accessdate=2024-07-16 |publisher=Massoud Foundation USA}}</ref> He graduated from UCLA in 2012, with a degree in political science and Middle Eastern studies, and from LSE in 2013 with a master's in international relations.<ref>{{cite web |author=Thomas Harding |date=2022-12-03 |title=Afghan resistance sees Taliban weakness as it seeks to exhaust the enemy |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2022/12/03/afghan-resistance-sees-taliban-weakness-as-it-seeks-to-exhaust-the-enemy/ |publisher=The National}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2023-11-28 |title=Herat Security Dialogue-XI |url=https://aissonline.org/Uploads/CustomInitiativeContentFile/Conference-Report-HSD-XI.pdf |publisher=Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies}}</ref>
== Career == Nazary began his career in communications at Khorasan TV, hosting a weekly show on politics and current affairs in Afghanistan. He then was Director of Media Affairs for Abdullah Abdullah's 2014 presidential campaign, and following the election, Nazary took a hiatus from politics to work as an Afghan and Central Asian government relations specialist at Bellwether Partners, overseeing international relations consulting and management projects.<ref name="Bellwether Partners">{{cite web|url=https://www.bellwetherpartners.com/about |title=Bellwether Team|publisher=Bellwether Partners|accessdate=2021-09-21}}</ref>
In 2016, he also became president of the Massoud Foundation USA, the U.S. branch of the Massoud family's Afghanistan based relief organization, a position he continues to hold, being entrusted to perform duties such as transcribing and translating portions of Ahmad Shah Massoud's diary for usage in publication.<ref name="Massoud Foundation"></ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gall|first=Sandy|title= Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud|publisher=Haus Publishing|year=2021|isbn=1913368238|page=316}}</ref>
In the summer of 2018, Nazary received confidential information that the American government was seeking to enter into direct negotiations with the Taliban and from that point onwards he became a staunch critic of the resulting Doha Agreement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Massoud|first=Ahmad|title=In the Name of My Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan|publisher=Republic Book Publishers|year=2024|isbn=9781645720966|page=147}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/peace-in-afghanistan-is-impossible-without-an-inclusive-approach-39841|title=Peace in Afghanistan is impossible without an inclusive approach|publisher=TRT World|date=2020-09-12}}</ref>
In September 2019, he attended a large rally of over 30,000 people in Panjshir that led to the launch of Ahmad Massoud's political movement, of which Nazary became a founding member.<ref name="founding"></ref>
=== National Resistance Front === As tensions between the government and the Taliban grew amidst the drawdown of NATO forces from Afghanistan, Nazary served as a chief foreign policy advisor and a liaison between Ahmad Massoud and foreign diplomats up until his departure from Kabul a few days after 15 August 2021.<ref>{{cite book|last=Massoud|first=Ahmad|title=In the Name of My Father: Struggling for Freedom in Afghanistan|publisher=Republic Book Publishers|year=2024|isbn=9781645720966|pages=48-49}}</ref> With the fall of Kabul and Ashraf Ghani's flight from the country, Massoud formed the National Resistance Front (NRF), based in Panjshir. Subsequently, Nazary was appointed head of foreign relations for the NRF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58239156 |title=Anti-Taliban resistance group says it has thousands of fighters|publisher=BBC|date=2021-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/09/08/afghan-national-resistance-front-ali-nazary-ctw-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn |title=Resistance official: Afghans are answering the call for an uprising|date=8 September 2021 |publisher=CNN|accessdate=2021-09-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcpersian/status/1439648086335365130 |title=Afghan National Resistance Front: The battle continues|publisher=BBC Persian| date=2021-09-19}}</ref> His tenure has been characterised by legislative advocacy for international recognition of the NRF and a push for a democratic and decentralized form of governance in Afghanistan that would guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of race, religion, or gender.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/afghanistan/what-taliban-really-fear|title=What the Taliban Really Fear|publisher=Foreign Affairs| date=2022-08-19}}</ref> He has been described as Massoud's "point man".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nysun.com/article/in-democracys-cradle-free-afghanistans-ali-nazary-talks-of-war-and-resistance |title=In Democracy's Cradle, Free Afghanistan's Ali Nazary Talks of War and Resistance|publisher=New York Sun|author=Anthony Grant|date=11 April 2022 |accessdate=2024-06-30}}</ref>
== Publications ==
=== Articles ===
* {{cite journal|last=Nazary|first=Ali Maisam|date=12 February 2017|title=نظام پارلمانی، تضمینی برای حکمرانی خوب در افغانستان|language=Persian|url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/blog-viewpoints-38950895|journal=BBC Persian}}
* {{cite journal|last=Nazary|first=Ali Maisam|last2=Nishat|first2=Zalmai|date=12 September 2020|title=Peace in Afghanistan is impossible without an inclusive approach|url= https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/peace-in-afghanistan-is-impossible-without-an-inclusive-approach-39841 |journal=TRT World}}
* {{cite journal|last=Nazary|first=Ali Maisam|date=19 August 2022|title=What the Taliban Really Fear|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/afghanistan/what-taliban-really-fear|journal=Foreign Affairs}}
* {{cite journal|last=Cook|first=David|last2=Nazary|first2=Ali Maisam|date=23 May 2023|title=Terrorist cells proliferate in Afghanistan|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/23/terrorist-cells-proliferate-in-afghanistan/|journal=The Washington Times}}
=== Scholarly chapters ===
* Nazary, Ali Maisam. "Cultural, Religious and Economic Integration: Future of Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations", in (eds.) Huma Baqai, Nausheen Wasi, [https://ir.iba.edu.pk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=faculty-research-books|''Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: Pitfalls and the Way Forward''], Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 2021. pp. 75–88.
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazary, Ali Maisam}} Category:21st-century Afghan politicians Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:1990 births Category:Living people Category:Afghan Tajik people Category:Tajik politicians