Haqqani, Husain 1956-

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Haqqani, Husain 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born July 1, 1956, in Karachi, Pakistan. Education: University of Karachi, B.A., 1977, M.A., 1980.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of International Relations, 152 Bay State Rd., Rm. 110, Boston, MA 02215. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Journalist, diplomat, and educator. Arabia—The Islamic World Review, Hong Kong, China, East Asian correspondent, 1980-84; Far Eastern Economic Review, Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent, 1984-88; contributor to Voice of America, 1986-88; special assistant to Chief Minister, Punjab, 1988-90; special assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, 1990; special assistant and principal spokesman to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 1990-92; Pakistan ambassador to Sri Lanka, 1992-93; spokesman for Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, 1993-95; chair of House Building Finance Corporation, 1995-96; founder, Communications Research Strategies (consulting firm), 1996-2002; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC, visiting scholar, 2002—; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, adjunct professor in School of Advanced International Studies; Boston University, Boston, MA, director of Center for International Relations and associate professor of international relations. Cochair, Hudson Institute's Project on the Future of the Muslim World. Guest lecturer at universities, including George Washington University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, Cornell University, Stanford University, University of Maryland, and University of California at Berkeley. Frequent commentator on television news channels.

WRITINGS:

Ikkisvin Sadi Men Ulte Paon, Pakistani Adab Publications (Karachi, Pakistan), 1997.

Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington, DC), 2005.

Contributor of chapters to books, and to periodicals, including the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, Gulf News, Globe and Mail, Arab News, The Hindu, Indian Express, South China Morning Post, Nation, and International Herald Tribune. Editor, Current Trends in Islamist Thought.

SIDELIGHTS:

A native of Pakistan who now lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, Husain Haqqani has an extensive background in journalism and politics that has made him a respected expert on his homeland. As a correspondent during the 1980s, Haqqani reported on events in China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan; he became experienced in the politics of the region, reporting on such events as the 1979 Iranian revolution, the war in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, and the delicate political relationship between India and Pakistan. During the 1990s, he served as an advisor to three of Pakistan's prime ministers and was an ambassador for his country to Sri Lanka. After running his own consulting firm, he emigrated from Pakistan to the United States in 2002 to teach and eventually became director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University. Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Pakistan has become a key player in America's war on terror, and so an understanding of the country's political situation and history is vital for anyone interested in how the nation operates. Haqqani's Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military explores the balance between religion, politics, and the military in Pakistan, from its separation from India to form a Muslim state to its leadership under President—and former general and coup leader—Pervez Musharraf.

By exploring the history of Pakistan, Haqqani reveals how a pattern of despotic rule evolved as a result of manipulations orchestrated by military and religious leaders. It is a cycle difficult to break—a civilian government surviving only briefly during the adminis- tration of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto—and Haqqani maintains that the military has used religious fervor in Pakistan in order to hold power by portraying Islamic unrest as a threat to the nation's stability. On the other hand, Pakistan's leaders have also failed to control religious dissidents within its borders. Pakistan also explains how Islamist movements first obtained a foothold in the country, reveals the intricacies of the tug-of-war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and shows how the events of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America affected Musharraf's political decisions. Because the United States only has short-term goals in mind in its dealings with Pakistan, Haqqani believes, America's interference in Pakistani politics will only have a negative effect. In order to ensure a more stable and prosperous future, the author asserts, Pakistan must begin to look beyond immediate concerns of religion and state power and begin a slow transition back to civilian government. "The military should be persuaded to turn over their power gradually to elected governments, since their all-powerful national position is based on the early days of Pakistan's vulnerable existence," as Olivier Immig put it in the Asia Times. "Husain Haqqani performs a valuable service by analyzing the role of religion" in his book, remarked Keri Geiger in the Economic Review, adding that the work "delivers a clear and concise account of why Pakistan is still under military rule more than 50 years after gaining independence from the United Kingdom."