Friday, September 18, 2009

Husain Haqqani : Pakistani Ambassador to USA

Husain Haqqani has taken over as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC. A trusted advisor of former Pakistani Prime Minsiter, Ms Benazir Bhutto, Ambassador Haqqani is known as a Professor at Boston University and former Director of the Center for International Relations. He is also the Co-Chair of the Hudson Institute's Project on the Future of the Muslim World as well as editor of the journal ‘Current Trends in Islamist Thought' published from Washington DC.

Haqqani came to the U.S. in 2002 as a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and an adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is a leading journalist, diplomat, and former advisor to Pakistani Prime ministers. His syndicated column is published in several newspapers in South Asia and the Middle East, including Oman Tribune, Jang, The Indian Express, Gulf News and The Nation (Pakistan).

Haqqani started his journalism career with work as East Asian correspondent for Arabia - The Islamic World Review and Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review . During this period he wrote extensively on Muslims in China and East Asia and Islamic political movements. Covering the war in Afghanistan enabled him to acquire deep understanding of the militant Jihadi groups.

Haqqani has contributed to numerous international publications, including The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , International Herald Tribune, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and The Financial Times . He regularly comments on Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Islamic politics and extremism on BBC, PBS, CNN, NBC, Fox News and ABC.

Haqqani also had a distinguished career in government. He served as an advisor to Pakistani Prime ministers Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif, and Benazir Bhutto. From 1992 to 1993 he was Pakistan's ambassador to Sri Lanka.

Mr Haqqani's 2005 book ‘Pakistan Between Mosque and Military' has been praised in major international journals and newspapers as a path-breaking book on Pakistan's political history. The book received favorable reviews in Foreign Affairs , Wall Street Journal , Boston Globe, and academic journals and has sold more copies than any other book on Pakistan in the last decade.

Other recent publications include Pakistan: Avoiding the Traps of the Past (Policy brief, Carnegie Endowment, 2002); The Gospel of Jihad (Foreign Policy magazine, September-October 2002); Islam's Medieval Outposts (Foreign Policy, November-December 2002; The American Mongols (Foreign Policy, May-June 2003); Islam's Weakened Moderates (Foreign Policy, July-August 2003); Political Islam beyond the Middle East: Pakistan and Afghanistan (in ‘Political Islam: Challenges for U.S. Policy', Aspen Institute, July 2003), Think Again: The Causes of Islamist Terrorism (Foreign Policy, January 2006).