Author Archive

Ishtiaq Ahmad

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad is the Director of the School of Politics and International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

He previously served as Pakistan Chair at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, UK (2010-2015) as well as Senior Research Associate at Centre for International Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford (2010-2015); Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University (2005-2010/2015-2016); Vice Chair/Assistant Professor of International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus (1998-2005); and Senior Research Fellow at Area Study Centre, Quaid-i-Azam University (1996-1998).

Dr. Ahmad is a recipient of several fellowships, including Fulbright Fellowship at University of California, Santa Barbra, USA; and Hans-Seidel Stiftung Fellowship at Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany; and the US International Visitors Fellowship.

Dr. Ahmad has published widely on politics and foreign policy of Pakistan, and regional security and integration issues in South Asia, in international academic journals and edited volumes. His books include Pakistan's Democratic Transition: Change and Persistence (Routledge, 2016) and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: An Afghan Trail from Jihad to Terrorism. He forthcoming publications include a book titled Conflict and Cooperation in South Asia: The Search for Security and Stability in India and Pakistan (IB Tauris).

/ / 1
For three days (February 3-5) Oxford University was the venue for the Pakistan Future Leaders’ Conference (PFLC), attended by some 300 student-delegates hailing from around 50 universities and colleges in the United Kingdom. This major event was organised by Oxford University’s Pakistan Society, in collaboration with the Oxford Union, and the Pakistan societies of Cambridge University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Such a large gathering of young Pakistanis in Oxford was reflective of an emerging ‘youth moment’ currently setting the course of politics in Pakistan. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who is also an Oxonian, has already tapped into this phenomenon. His recent political rallies in Lahore and Karachi attracted exceptionally large crowds of younger people, forcing the country’s …