IUP Cook Honors College Alumnus Provides a Bridge Between Washington and Islamabad

Indiana, PA (PRWEB) -- An Indiana University of Pennsylvania (http://www.iup.edu) Robert E. Cook Honors College (http://www.iup.edu/honors) alumnus continues to serve as a nationally recognized voice for his native Pakistan while serving as a foreign policy analyst.

"I research, analyze and recommend policy," said Haider Mullick, who is based in Washington, D.C. "Currently, my focus is Pakistan's counterinsurgency/national security policy, ethnic/sectarian/religious schisms, and civil-military affairs in Pakistan, in the context of U.S.-Pakistan, India-Pakistan, and Afghanistan-Pakistan relations."

He was appointed last July as Senior Fellow at the Joint Special Operations University to write a monograph on Pakistan's Counterterrorism/Counterinsurgency Policy from 2002 to 2008.

He has also served as an expert source in other national and international media. He was quoted in a Time cover story on Pakistan last July, and he has been interviewed for Voice of America and CNN broadcasts. Last September, he was interviewed for CNN's Pakistani election coverage. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvojxzKKoc)

His views have been published on Washington Post's Post Global previously. Five editorials on Pakistan issues were published in 2008 including: If Musharraf Steps Down, Will Pakistan Step Up?; There Are Two Pakistans; How Pakistan Can Rein In The Taliban; Pakistan: From Counter-Terrorism to Counterinsurgency; and Pakistan's Paradoxes. In addition, his editorials have appeared in The Nation, Gulf News, The News Pakistan, and Indian Express.

Mullick is a former researcher of the Brookings Institution, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Hudson Institute's Center on Islam. A large and time consuming part of his job is keeping informed of the issues affecting Southeast Asia.

"I read numerous newspapers, policy reports and briefs," he said. "I attend briefings, give briefings, and this week I gave a briefing at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Pentagon on Pakistan's counterinsurgency/security policy and civil-military affairs. I also attend conferences and seminars. But most importantly, I travel back to South Asia and inside the U.S to various think tanks and universities to conduct fieldwork and interviews. In the end, I hope to gain fresh perspective from primary sources to enhance my analysis and try to write something half way original and insightful."

As a policy analyst he has discovered how he can best serve his native land and live in America.

"Acting as a bridge is my calling," he said, "and Washington and Islamabad (capital of Pakistan) are two cities where important decisions on war, foreign aid and world order are made. I am very proud of Pakistan - a nation state in search of nationhood - and the Pakistani peoples - resilient and hopeful in the face of imminent economic collapse and protracted disappointments from their leaders, both military and elected civilians.

Mullick, who maintains strong ties with his mother and sister who both live in Pakistan, said he was critical of U.S. policies just a few years ago.

"When I was in college I complained about how the U.S. had it wrong in South Asia--Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq," said Mullick, who earned a bachelor's degree in Economics (http://www.iup.edu/economics) in 2004 and a master's in Public Policy in 2007, both from IUP.

"Then I was critical about the Islamic world," he said. "Now I find solace in knowing that through my opeds, reports, monographs and media appearances I am playing a small role of a bridge between the two, specifically between the United States and Pakistan and knowing that wakes me up in the morning."

"In the United States I have my heart (his wife) and close friends and mentors," said Mullick, who last year married Rabia Chowdhry, an IUP graduate and Pakistani American. "In Pakistan I have my purpose."

Mullick recently described the new era of his native land as the guest voice on Post Global, an interactive conversation on global issues published jointly by Newsweek and http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Mullick's A New Dawn in Pakistan, published March 17 on Post Global, focuses on reinforcing the new democracy with the political, economic and military steps needed to stabilize the country.

For more of his political analyzing, visit Mullick at his website at http://www.haidermullick.com.

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