‘The Unravelling of Pakistan’Survival – Vol. 51, No. 3 – June-July 2009
John R. Schmidt,
Professorial Lecturer, Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University,
Political Counselor, US Embassy in Pakistan (1998-2001)
Moderated by Dr Andrew Parasiliti
Executive Director, IISS-US
Corresponding Director, IISS-Middle East
Thursday, 9 July 2009
1850 K Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
On Thursday, 9 July, John R. Schmidt, Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University, spoke on his article ‘The Unravelling of Pakistan,’ in the June/July 2009 issue of Survival. Schmidt served as Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Pakistan from 1998-2001. Dr Andrew Parasiliti, Executive Director, IISS-US and Corresponding Director, IISS-Middle East, moderated the event. Schmidt argued that nothing in Pakistan’s political culture, or in the performance of its political class, provides ground for optimism. While noting that recent operations by the Pakistani Army in the Swat region have been more robust, there is as yet no evidence that Pakistan is ready to go after the Afghan Taliban with the degree of seriousness required. In order to help bolster their operations against the Pakistan Taliban, Schmidt suggested various steps that Pakistan could take in order to reduce tensions with India and thereby free up forces posted on the Indian border that could be redeployed to fight the Pakistani Taliban.
Mr. Schmidt is a former senior officer in the US Foreign Service who was Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Islamabad from 1998 to 2001. He is currently a professorial lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington DC.
