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Pakistan 2020: A Vision for Building a Better Future
NEW YORK, May 18, 2011 — Following the launch of his Pakistan 2020 report, Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Fellow Hassan Abbas offers advice to the U.S. Congress on how best to handle the topic of aid to Pakistan. (5 min., 38 sec.)
Preventing Pakistan from further deterioration will require a long-term commitment from the government of Pakistan, the United States, and other international stakeholders to promote genuine reform.
According to a report by the Asia Society Pakistan 2020 Study Group, this commitment must be enshrined in a comprehensive package of policies aimed at promoting sustainable constitutional democracy, credible and effective rule of law and law enforcement, a significant expansion and improvement of the education and health sectors, and a peaceful resolution of the conflict with India. Economic growth and foreign investment in Pakistan arguably will follow such progress.
The Group's report, Pakistan 2020: A Vision for Building a Better Future, emphasizes that without the urgent adoption of both remedial and innovative measures in all of these areas, the challenges facing Pakistan—including terrorism, religious extremism, underdevelopment, and chronic political instability—will become more serious over time. While Pakistan's path will be defined and driven by internal and regional factors, the international community, especially the United States and its allies, must continue to play a supportive role.
The Pakistan 2020 Study Group is the first group of its kind in recent years to include a significant number of leading experts from Pakistan and the United States—30 in all—representing a range of sectors. Members include former diplomats, military leaders, and intelligence officials, journalists and media personalities, economists and development specialists, scientists, and experts in the fields of health, education, governance and law, and natural resources and the environment.
"Pakistan faces enormous challenges in the years ahead," said Hassan Abbas, project director and Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Fellow. “But the people of Pakistan have shown a remarkable resilience in addressing some of these challenges, and there is a high potential for reform and development in the country. Progressive and constructive policy shifts in Pakistan, as suggested throughout the Study Group’s report, are what truly matter in the long term."
“As facts about the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan come to light, relations between Islamabad and Washington and its allies will be severely tested. The United States and the broader international community have an extremely important stake in helping to set Pakistan on a steady path. Ultimately, a stable Pakistan is the only effective way to tackle militant sanctuaries in the country and bring a durable peace to South Asia.”
The Asia Society Pakistan 2020 Study Group report was launched at an event at the Asia Society in New York City on May 18 and at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on May 20. Launch events are also being planned in Pakistan and India. Stay tuned for more details.
Related Links and Events:
June 6, 2011: Op-Ed by Tariq Pervez and Hassan Abbas on Foreign Policy Af-Pak Channel Blog
May 17, 2011: Op-Ed by Hassan Abbas on CNN.com
Project Director
Hassan Abbas, Bernard Schwartz Fellow, Asia Society; Quaid-i-Azam Professor, South Asia Institute, Columbia University
Project Manager
Robert W. Hsu, Assistant Director, Global Policy Programs, Asia Society
Pakistan 2020 Study Group Members
Samina Ahmed, South Asia Project Director, International Crisis Group
Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government and Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Peter Bergen, Journalist; Director, National Security Studies Program, New America Foundation
Christopher Candland, Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director, South Asia Studies Program, Wellesley College
Stephen Cohen, Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy Studies, 21st Century Defense Initiative, Brookings Institution
Suzanne DiMaggio, Vice President, Global Policy Programs, Asia Society
Asad Durrani, Lieutenant General (Ret.), Pakistan Military, and Former Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence; Former Pakistan Ambassador to Germany and Saudi Arabia
C. Christine Fair, Assistant Professor, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Asher Hasan, Founder and CEO, Naya Jeevan
Andrew Hess, Professor of Diplomacy and Director, Program for Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Pervez Hoodbhoy, Chairman and Professor, Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University
Mir Ibrahim, Founder and CEO, Geo TV
Asma Jahangir, President, Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan
Jehangir Karamat, General (Ret.) and Former Chief of Pakistan Army; CEO, Spearhead Research Institute
William Milam, Senior Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan
Adil Najam, Director, Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University
Nigar Nazar, Cartoonist; CEO, Gogi Studios Ltd.
John D. Negroponte, Vice Chairman, McLarty Associates; Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Sania Nishtar, Founder and President, Heartfile
Amir Rana, Director, Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies
Ahmed Rashid, Journalist and Author; Former Correspondent, Far Eastern Economic Review
Eric Rosenbach, Faculty Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Babar Sattar, Founding Partner, AJURIS Advocates and Corporate Consultants
Ayesha Siddiqa, Political Analyst; Author, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy
Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Former Senior Advisor for Women’s Empowerment, U.S. Department of State, and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations, U.S. National Security Council
Frank Wisner, Foreign Affairs Advisor, Patton Boggs, LLC; Former U.S. Ambassador to India and U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
Moeed Yusuf, South Asia Advisor, Center for Conflict Prevention and Analysis, United States Institute of Peace
Mariam Abou Zahab, Lecturer, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales
Mosharraf Zaidi, Columnist, The News; Policy Analyst
Nasim Zehra, Director, Current Affairs, and Host, Policy Matters, Dunya TV
Vision 2020 for pakistan is most need of the moment it needs better relation with india and keeping it self on non allinment
policies and also there is no scope for one more bangaladesh.
Thanking you sincierly.
I love pakistan because my father live in pakistan i like pakistan
Pakistan's macro-economic indicators would remain to be dismal
even by 2020.Given the present growth rate of 4%, Pakistan would have a Nominal GDP of $ 255 billions & Per capita Nominal GDP at not more than $ 1,250.By then India's Nominal GDP would have reached $ 4.4 trillion with a Per capita GDP of $ 3200. Moreover India's GDP at PPP would be at $ 10.5 trillions & per capita GDP PPP at $ 7,600.
Pakistan’s Ignored Rural Areas
By Khwaja Aftab Ali
Florida
Five regional cities should be upgraded within the provinces in Pakistan: Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, Gawadar/Qalat in Balouchistan, Sukkar/Larkana in Upper Sindh, Jehlum/Rawalpindi and Multan in Punjab province.
These cities have been ignored by the federal and provincial governments although they have their own history, culture and languages. Dera Ismail Khan in the south of Pakhtun khwa/MWFP is under siege, Multan/DG Khan in the south of Punjab is the next target of religious extremists, Sukkar/Larkana is being ruled by criminals, Gawadar/Qalat appears troublesome. The people of these regions have to travel to provincial capitals trivial reasons.
A good number of people are also forced to travel to big cities to earn livelihood as the local feudal who own majority land treat the common man as their virtual slaves.
Creation of regional government and upgrading of regional cities will save a lot of money and time of the poor people of these areas. Circuit benches of the High Courts are already functioning in these places and what is required is additional staff to beef up different departments engaged in additional work at the provincial capitals.
The concerned authorities should immediately consider to upgrade the regional cities. And immediate attention should be given to upgrade/build the airports, TV stations, civic centers, libraries, hospitals, educational institutions and bolstering investment opportunities for Pakistanis living abroad. Foreign firms should be encouraged to create jobs in the areas as the majority population in rural Pakistan does not have enough resources to survive.
In this context I am reminded of the conditions obtaining in Iran before the Islamic Revolution when rural Iran continued to be ignored and the capital Tehran was developed and called the ‘Paris of the Middle East’. A couple of big cities, including Isfahan, and the Caspian Sea area were developed because of the attraction they possessed for foreign tourists but the rural area was ignored and plagued by problems of sorts as it was ruled by ruthless police and intelligence forces. It was but natural that the rural population supported the Islamic Revolution and moved to Tehran and other big cities and later ruled the cities. After the revolution, the new government was motivated to develop the rural areas of Iran.
There is thus a pressing need to set up a fund to upgrade/build the regional cities in Pakistan under the aegis of the public and private sectors. Our foreign friends and Pakistanis living abroad could be asked to participate in this singularly important developmental effort.
Published in Pakistan Links
I appreciate the struggle for building a better future of under-developing countries .Moreover I suggest that there should be a Section for those poor individuals who wish to pass their normal Lives Peas-fully but they have not enough money to meet their
necessary Expenses even .
members of the study group Pakistan 2020 being confined to a singular province of Pakistan,mainly , does not only show merely a PR exercise but was also to be limited vision on Pakistan as not a single expert from Sindh and Baluchistan were attempted to be included. Probably, Baluchs and Sindhis are not much considered good Pakistanis! And who knows if Pakistan itself remain intact and in good health until 2020!
Among the Pakistanis in this group there are atleast 3 members who are from Karachi - So why are they not considered Sindhis?? To the best of my knowledge except Baluchistan all other provinces are represented in this group. However, the most remarkable thing is that the group is diverse and people with very different views worked together.
Excellent recommendations - may be Imran Khan can implement these.
It is a dilemma that most of the problems faced by Pakistanis today are created by Military but to put Pakistan back on tract to modernization and to make it a progressive state is only possible if Military is in power because military has the budget, discipline and weapons to deal with the problem of militancy. It is unfortunate that a big section of military especially ISI is promoting Jehadi mentality. unless ISI is disbanded it is difficult for Pakistan to turn into a modern state. No authority in Pakistan can challenge the army budget or even dare to audit the money give to the army. Army is spending the money to keep the status quo. So when more than 50% of the budget is given to a force which wants to keep the status quo how can we expect a positive change.
Pakistan's macro-economic indicators would remain to be dismal
even by 2020.Given the present growth rate of 4%, Pakistan would have a Nominal GDP of $ 255 billions & Per capita Nominal GDP at not more than $ 1,250.By then India's Nominal GDP would have reached $ 4.4 trillion with a Per capita GDP of $ 3200. Moreover India's GDP at PPP would be at $ 10.5 trillions & per capita GDP PPP at $ 7,600.
hi
I need some contact numbers of above mention person fot contact him or her,please tell me the way who can i get contact
Regards
Hasnain
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