Please join Dean Vali Nasr and distinguished panelists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) for a discussion of "Pakistan Today: The Case for U.S.-Pakistan Relations," a new policy study by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli and Shahid Javed Burki, published by the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute. Copies of the report are available to conference attendees.

In this study the authors suggest that given its location, the youth of its population, and the faith of most of its citizens, Pakistan must occupy a significant place in the world-view of the Trump administration. For decades, Pakistan needed the United States to help it with the resources necessary to develop its economy and to increase its military strength. Not able to save much from its own resources, Pakistan looked outside for help. The country’s policymakers viewed their external environment as hostile, necessitating military preparedness. The U.S. was often ready to help. But its involvement was predicated on its own strategic interests. These changed over time, which gave its relations with Pakistan a stop-and-go quality. With globalization, the rise of China and the near-collapse of the old world order, U.S. relations with Pakistan need to be redefined.

Agenda:

Opening Remarks: Dean Vali Nasr, 9:30 am

PANEL ONE: The Setting - 10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Pakistan Today: Keynote Address
General Pervez Musharraf: former Chief of Army Staff; former President of Pakistan

The Pakistan Army Today: Institutional Change and Continuity
General Mahmud A. Durrani: former Pakistan National Security Advisor

The Economy
Shahid Javed Burki: former Vice President, The World Bank

The Women of Pakistan: Rising to the Challenge
Salman Sufi: Senior Member, Law and Order, Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit
Maleeka Bokhari: Barrister, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf

PANEL TWO: The External Compass - 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Energy Needs, Water Resources and India
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Government of Pakistan; Member, National Assembly of Pakistan
Shirin Tahir-Kheli: Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, SAIS

Pakistan and the United States
Shah Mehmood Qureshi: Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf; Member, National Assembly of Pakistan; former Foreign Minister
Joshua White: Associate Professor of Practice, South Asia Studies, SAIS
Shamila Chaudhary: Senior Advisor to Dean Nasr, SAIS

China's Role and the Region
Carla Freeman: Director, Foreign Policy Institute; Associate Director, China Studies, SAIS
Daniel Markey: Academic Director, Global Policy Program, SAIS

Prospect for the Future and Wrap Up
Shirin Tahir-Kheli