KCL-NUST Conference on Pakistan Elections 2013
24th June 2013
Edmond J. Safra Lecture Theatre
King's College London
The conference is a joint effort by the department of War Studies at King's College London and the National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad. The two panels will discuss what are the implications of the domestic and foreign policies of the newly elected government for Pakistan and the region.
Thematically, the conference will gravitate around three core policy issues: how will the new government deal with
1. domestic issues including power shortages, ethnic divisions and socioeconomic factors as well as the domestic political effects of the use of drones by USA,
2. Afghanistan, especially with ISAF withdrawal in sight,
3. tensions with the US and ISAF including the issue of drones.
The format of the conference is that of two panels of expert analysts and academics discussing over a video-conference link, each with its own chair guiding the debate. One panel will sit at KCL in London and will be chaired by Professor Anatol Lieven; the other panel will sit at NUST, Islamabad, and will be chaired by Syed Talat Hussain. The format of the event is that of a semi-structured debate, not unlike the BBC's Question Time, where panellists in turn offer contributions to the debate. There will be an opportunity for audience to also ask questions from both panels.
The event will be on the record. You are welcome to take notes, record or cite with appropriate attribution. Furthermore, selected interventions from the debate and selected transcriptions will be made available as primary material for public use on the KCL War Studies blog Strife (www.strifeblog.org) and Kings Of War blog (http://kingsofwar.org.uk) so as to facilitate dissemination of the discussions in the conference. Strife and Kings of War are open-source and under a Creative Commons license, which means that you can cite and republish as long as you attribute the original publication. Please do contact us should you wish for a complete recording of the event.
All are welcome, no booking required. Seating will be allocated on a first come basis. Please do contact us () should you wish for any further information or details.
PARTICIPANTS
KCL, debate chair, Anatol Lieven is aBritishauthor, journalist, andpolicy analyst. He is presently a Senior Researcher (Bernard L. Schwartz fellow and American Strategy Program fellow) at theNew America Foundation, where he focuses on USglobal strategyand theWar on Terrorism, Associated Scholar of the Transnational Crisis Project, Chair ofInternational Relations and Terrorism StudiesatKing's College London.
Between 2000 and 2005, he was a Senior Associate for Foreign and Security policy at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously a journalist with theFinancial Timescovering Central Europe, withThe Times(London) coveringPakistan,Afghanistan, the formerSoviet Union, andRussia(including theFirst Chechen War), and wrote fromIndiaas a freelancer. He has also served as an editor at the International Institute for Strategic studies inLondon, where he worked for the Eastern Services of theBBC. He received a B.A. in history and a doctorate in political science fromJesus College, Cambridge.
NUST panel members:
Syed Talat Hussain Naqviis aPakistanijournalist, foreign policy commentator andtelevision personality. He is the primary anchor, as well as executive producer, of the current affairs showLive with Talatwhich is primary on air by the Express News. He has written forNewsline, Daily Dawn,Time Magazine,Daily Times (Pakistan), Daily Express andIndia Today. During the latest Pakistani elections Hussain travelled extensively through Pakistani constituencies and spoke with voters from all walks of life.
Dr. Ashfaq Husain Khan is currently the Dean and Professor, NUST Business School, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad. He has been the Special Secretary Finance/Director General, Debt Office of the Ministry of Finance, Islamabad. He is also the Director and Vice Chairman of Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Ltd. (A joint venture of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) and Director of the United Bank Limited (Representing government’s shares in the Bank). Dr.Khan holds a Ph.D degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University in USA. He joined the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) in 1979 as Research Economist, and was Joint Director of the Institute before being appointed Economic Adviser of the Ministry of Finance in March 1998. In January 2003 he was appointed Director General of the Debt Office of the Ministry of Finance and Special Secretary Finance/ Director General, Debt Office in July 2007.
Maj Gen (R) Baz Ali Khan is a retired senior military officer. Gen (R) Khan was Chief Instructor at the War Wing of National Defence University Islamabad from 2001 to 2002. After this, he joined the Ministry of Defence as Additional Secretary for three years. Gen Khan retired from the Pakistan Army in 2005 and in 2006 he was appointed as the Pakistani Ambassador to Indonesia. After serving for three years, in 2009 Gen (R) Khan was appointed as Principal of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies at the National University for Science and Technology. Gen (R) Khan specialises in National defence, diplomatic and strategic studies of Pakistan.
Saleem Safi(TBC) is aPakistanigeostrategist, foreign policy commentator, and talk show anchor. He has hosted various current affairs programmes in channels such asPTV News, the Pashto-languageAVT Khyberand is currently serving as the host ofGEO Newstalk showJirga. Safi has written columns for the Daily JangandThe Pakistan Herald. Safi is the author ofAfghanistan, Taliban, Osama and the role of Pakistan's religious parties.