Pakistan is the sixth most populous country, the twenty-fifth largest economy in the world, and member of a select club of nuclear weapons states. Yet it is too often in the news for all the wrong reasons, as forces of extremism wage violence within the state and use its borders as safe haven to conduct attacks in Afghanistan and India. What does Pakistan's future hold? Can one imagine a prosperous democratic Pakistan in which sectarian violence is a distant memory and that is recognized as a responsible rising power in international relations?
The main speaker for the event, Ambassador Husain Haqqani, discussed his vision of Pakistan's future. Professor Tamara Sonn and Professor Christine Fair served as discussants.Ambassador Husain Haqqani served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011. He is widely credited with managing a difficult U.S.-Pakistan partnership during a critical phase in the global war on terrorism.
Christine Fair is an associate professor in the Center for Security Studies in the School of Foreign Service. She joined the Georgetown faculty in 2009.
Tamara Sonn is the Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor in the History of Islam in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.