Wilson Center Announces First Pakistan Fellow

 PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Ryan McKenna

Phone: (202) 691-4217

ryan.mckenna@wilsoncenter.org

February 2, 2023

 

WASHINGTON–The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars announced today the selection of Mr. Baqir Sajjad as the first Wilson Center Pakistan Fellow. Sajjad will spend nine months in residence beginning in February 2023. He will conduct research on his project titled “Navigating US-China Competition: Options for Pakistan.” For more than two decades, Sajjad has served as diplomatic and national security correspondent at Dawn, one of Pakistan’s top English-language newspapers.

“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Sajjad to the Wilson Center, where his research promises to make a major contribution to study of the Pakistan factor in US-China competition,” said Wilson Center President and CEO Ambassador Mark Andrew Green.

“Mr. Sajjad’s project is highly relevant and timely for US policy in Asia,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute. “It will offer a useful perspective from Pakistan about intensifying US-China competition that has considerable implications for Islamabad. We very much look forward to hosting him as he pursues this important research.”

The Wilson Center Pakistan Fellowship, housed within the Asia Program and South Asia Institute, is a core component of the Wilson Center Pakistan Initiative, which was established in August 2022. The Fellowship and Initiative expand and strengthen the Center’s 40 years of in-depth scholarship and programming on security and non-security aspects of the US-Pakistan relationship. The Pakistan Initiative will host conferences and other activities related to Pakistan that are meant to inform policymakers, business leaders, journalists, and others focused on Pakistan and US-Pakistan relations.

As the Wilson Center’s Pakistan Fellow, Sajjad will actively contribute to the Wilson Center’s Pakistan programming and scholarship, which includes a substantive research product. He will write and publish blogs, articles, and other content related to his focus area with the Wilson Center and others. Sajjad will also have the opportunity to interact with policymakers and thought leaders in Washington.

Information about the Wilson Center Pakistan Fellowship—including eligibility, required application materials, and the selection process—can be accessed on the Fellowship’s web page (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/pakistanfellowship). Questions about the Fellowship can be sent to pakistanfellowship@wilsoncenter.org

The Wilson Center’s Asia Program is grateful to the following supporters for their generous commitments in support of this Initiative: The Mashooqullah Family; the SAYA Foundation; Fazal and Shasta Sirhandi; Mossadaq Chughtai; and Najeeb Ghauri, CEO and Chairman, NETSOL Technologies.

Notes to editors:

1. The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact. By conducting relevant and timely research and promoting dialogue from all perspectives, it works to address the critical current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world.