Conference
on Pakistan at Johns Hopkins University
Washington, DC:
Jahangir Karamat makes his debut here with
a keynote address to a special conference
on Pakistan organized by the School of Advanced
International Studies at the, Washington.
The one-day conference
takes place on 8 November and will open with
the new ambassador speaking about his country,
which, in the words of the sponsors, “is caught
at the center of global events, facing urgent
challenges and difficult choices.”
He is expected
to address the question of Pakistan’s role
in the ongoing struggle against terrorist
organizations such as al Qaeda and the root
causes of the phenomenon called terrorism.
The sponsors feel that “for all its international
importance, in many ways Pakistan’s political
and domestic situation has been poorly understood
by foreign observers, many of whom remain
unaware of the particular nature of Pakistan’s
development.”
The conference
hopes to analyze the specific character of
Pakistan’s social, economic and political
challenges, and present a “more nuanced” picture
of the country. The papers to be read are
expected to focus on Pakistan’s economic and
social development and deal with the current
political process, including an examination
of factors such as fundamentalism, external
events and the forces shaping domestic trends.
After Ambassador
Karamat’s keynote address, the conference
will hear from Abdul Hafiz Sheikh, a member
of Pakistan’s federal cabinet, and Dr Jessica
Horn, Dean of the School of Advanced International
Studies at the university. The first panel
to be chaired by Robert Hathaway, Director
Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center
for International Scholars, will feature Ms
Sherry Rehman, PPP member of the National
Assembly, who will speak about the “Perils
of a unifocal strategic framework and Pakistan’s
encounter with the military, Islamism and
the United States.” Ms Teresita Schaffer,
director, South Asia Program at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, will
act as the discussant. The panel will also
hear from Prof. Charles Amjad Ali of the Luther
Seminary on the “use and abuse of religion
in the nexus of power in Pakistan,” with Husain
Haqqani of the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace acting as discussant. Sushant Sareen
of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi,
will address the conference on Pakistan’s
political economy with reference to India,
seen as both a “constraint: and an opportunity”
with nuclear physicist Zia Mian of Princeton
acting as discussant.
The second panel
on social change, institutions and social
groups, to be chaired by Walter Anderson,
chairman of South Asia Studies at the School
of Advanced International Studies, will feature
Arif Hasan, an urban planner from Karachi,
who will address the issue of socio-economic
change in Pakistan, with Prof. Shahnaz Rouse
of Sarah Lawrence College serving as discussant.
Ms Talat Aslam, Editor, The News, Karachi,
will speak on “Zia’s Children: young Pakistanis
in a changing world,” with Ms Lubna Chaudhry
of the State University of New York, Binghamton,
acting as discussant. The panel will also
hear from Prof. Shahrukh Khan of Mount Holyoke
College who will speak on Pakistan under the
present military government and examine if
any progress has taken place. Ijaz Nabi of
the World Bank will be the discussant.
The third panel
devoted to economic development in Pakistan
will hear from Mohammad Mansoor Ali of the
State Bank of Pakistan with Nadeem ul Haq
of the International Monetary Fund acting
as the discussant and visiting professor Akbar
Zaidi of the South Asia Studies Program at
the School for Advanced International Studies
chairing the session. Sakib Sherani of ABN-AMRO
Bank, Islamabad, will address the conference
on private investment in Pakistan, with Arvind
Subramanian of the IMF serving as discussant.
The panel will also hear from Imran Khalid
Khan of the World Bank on strategic lending
with Pakistan as a case study. His discussant
will be John Williamson of the International
Institute of Economics.
