Sadiq Amini is an expert in Public Diplomacy and International Security, with over a decade of experience shaping U.S. foreign and security policy in Afghanistan and South Asia. Through his YouTube podcasts, “Afghanistan Impact” and “Herat Talks”, he delivers in-depth analysis of Afghanistan’s challenges, highlighting the consequences of Taliban rule, especially on women, and advocating for the country’s liberation and democratization.

From 2022–2024, Mr. Amini served as a Non-Resident Fellow and Program Manager for Outreach at ORF America, a Washington D.C.-based think tank focused on U.S.-India relations. Prior to that, he spent nearly nine years as a Political Assistant at the U.S. Department of State/U.S. Embassy Kabul, where he performed sensitive roles in policy analysis, outreach, and crisis response, including advising on the U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Security Agreement. During Operation Allies Refuge, he played a key role in evacuating American citizens, Green Card holders, and over 3,000 locally employed staff and their families after the Taliban takeover of Kabul. In recognition of his services, the U.S. Department of State presented him with the Heroism Award in June 2022.

Mr. Amini began his career in 2010 with the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, later joining the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York. He has also served as Head of Communications at the UK-funded Comprehensive Agriculture & Rural Development Facility (CARD-F) and lectured part-time on International Relations at the University of Afghanistan in Kabul.

A Fulbright Scholar (2011) with an MA in Diplomacy & International Security from the Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky, he also holds a BA in Political Science from Christ College, Bangalore University, and is an alumnus of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (2007).

He serves on the Boards of Advisors for the Immigrant & Refugee Outreach Center (IROC) and Bareen Initiative for Development (BID), and is a member of Rotary International since December 2025. Mr. Amini is fluent in English, Dari/Persian, Pashtu, and Urdu/Hindi.