The United States and South Asia After Afghanistan (NY Launch)

U.S. interests in South Asia are evolving.  An intense focus on counterterrorism and Afghanistan since 9/11 is giving way to a broader range of interests. Washington takes India’s global status seriously and is working closely with New Delhi on a range of regional and global issues. China’s rise, often neglected as a factor in South Asia policy, is encouraging a more strategic U.S. approach to Asia policy as a whole. As a result, a significant opportunity now exists to rethink U.S. South Asia strategy.

An upcoming report by Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Fellow Alexander Evans draws on over 90 interviews with a range of current and former U.S. policy practitioners from the State Department, National Security Council, Congress, and the intelligence community to consider how the United States can achieve an integrated South Asia policy following the 2014 military drawdown in Afghanistan. The report, which benefits from the expertise of the Asia Society Advisory Group on U.S. Policy toward South Asia, includes recommendations for better incorporating expertise into policy planning.

In conjunction with the report’s release, please join us for a discussion on the prospects for achieving a strategic U.S. approach to South Asia and the hard choices an incoming Administration will need to make to get there. An event will also take place in Washington, D.C. on December 11, in Islamabad, Pakistan on December 18, and New Delhi, India on December 20.

SPEAKERS:

Robert D. Hormats (keynote remarks) is U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment. He was formerly Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs (International), joining the company in 1982. He previously served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Ambassador and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, and Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs. He also served as a senior staff member for International Economic Affairs on the National Security Council.

Alexander Evans is a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at Asia Society, a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and a member of the British diplomatic service. He was a senior advisor to the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and then to Ambassador Marc Grossman, the U.S. Special Representatives for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has served as a British diplomat in Islamabad and New Delhi and was a member of the Policy Planning Staff in London.

Husain Haqqani is Director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University. He served as Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and Sri Lanka, as well as advisor to Pakistani Prime Ministers Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto, and Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Frank G. Wisner is a Foreign Affairs Advisor at Patton Boggs. During his U.S. diplomatic career, which spanned four decades and eight American presidents, he served as Ambassador to Egypt, India, the Philippines, and Zambia, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs.

Suzanne DiMaggio (moderator) is Vice President of Global Policy Programs, where she oversees Asia Society's task forces, working groups, and Track II initiatives aimed at promoting effective policy responses to the most critical challenges facing the United States and Asia. 

EVENT DETAILS:

9:00-9:30 am: Registration
9:30-11:00 am: Discussion and Q & A

Can't make it to this program? Tune into AsiaSociety.org/Live at 9:30 am ET for a free live video webcast. Online viewers are encouraged to submit questions to moderator@asiasociety.org during the webcast.

More information on the upcoming report can be found here. For more information on Asia Society's work on Pakistan, please see our recent reports, Stabilizing Pakistan through Police Reform and Pakistan 2020: A Vision for Building a Better Future.