Dr. Hassan Abbas

Distinguished Professor

Bio

Dr. Hassan Abbas is a Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA Center) in Washington, D.C. He also serves as a senior advisor at Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard University’s Divinity school; and a non-resident scholar with Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a think tank focusing on research and education about American Muslims to support well-informed dialogue and decision making; and as a trustee of American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism and rule of law reforms in developing states.

Earlier, he served as professor and department chair at National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs (2011-2019) and as the Distinguished Quaid i Azam Professor at Columbia University (2009-2011). He held various fellowships including at Harvard Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies Program & Program on Negotiation (2002-04); the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2005-09); Asia Society in New York as Bernard Schwartz fellow (2009-2011); and as a Carnegie fellow at the New America Foundation (2016-2018). Dr. Abbas’s latest book, “The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left,” was recently published by Yale University Press in 2023.

He appeared on various television news shows on CNN, Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose Show, MSNBC (Abrams Report and Hardball), C-Span (Washington Journal) and various programs on CBS, and NBC as an analyst on security related issues in South Asia and Middle East. He has been interviewed for many news stories and analyses for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Guardian, etc.

Education & Awards

Education:

- - MALD and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
  - LL.M. in International Law from Nottingham University, United Kingdom, as a Britannia Chevening Scholar
  - Master’s in Political Science from Punjab University (Pakistan)

Areas of Interest

Areas of Interest:

- - Security, Religion & Politics in South Asia & Middle East
  - Rule of Law & Policing in Developing States
  - Building Narratives for Preventing & Countering & Violent Extremism

Publications

Books:

- - “The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left” by Yale University Press in 2023.
  - Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb: A Story of Defiance, Deterrence and Deviance, published in 2018 by Oxford University Press in North America, Hurst Publishers, in Europe and Penguin in South Asia.
  - The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism in Pakistan – Afghanistan Frontier published in 2015 by Yale University Press.
  - Editor, Pakistan’s Troubled Frontier published in 2009 by Jamestown Foundation, Washington D.C.
  - Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism: Allah the Army and America War on Terror was published by M. E. Sharpe in 2005, republished in 2012 by Routledge.
  - Poleaxe or Politics of the Eighth Amendment 1985-97 published in 1998 by Watandost Press in Pakistan..

Monographs, Papers & Reports:

- - “The Myth & Reality of Iraq’s al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces): A Way Forward,” published by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (Amman Office), 2017.
  - “Confronting Extremism Through Building an Effective Counter-Narrative: The Role of Political Parties and Law Enforcement Agencies in Pakistan,” Development Advocate, UNDP, Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2016.
  - “ISIS Eyes Influence in Pakistan: Focus, Fears and Future Prospects”, Jinnah Institute Policy Brief, December 23, 2014.
  - Editor, ‘Stabilizing Pakistan through Police Reforms,’ a publication by the Asia Society Independent Commission on Pakistan Police Reform, July 2012.
  - “Shiism and Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan: Identity Politics, Iranian Influence, and Tit-for-Tat Violence.” Monograph, Combating Terrorism Center, WestPoint, N.Y., September 2010.
  - “Pakistan 2020: A Vision for Building a Better Future”, Asia Society Study Group Report, May 2011.
  - “Reforming Police and Law Enforcement Infrastructure in Pakistan”, USIP Report, February 2011.

Opinion Pieces:

- - “Will Pakistan Cooperate with Trump?,” Centre for Global Policy, July 21, 2019.
  - “Iraqis hate our policy of containing ISIS,” Tom Rick’s Best Defense Blog on Foreign Policy, November 18, 2015.
  - “Inside the World of ISIS – The Arab Taliban”, Yale Press Blog, December 11, 2014.
  - “Are Drone Strikes Killing Terrorists or Creating Them?” The Atlantic, March 31, 2013.
  - “Will Democracy be Derailed in Pakistan? ” CNN, January 15, 2013.
  - “What Post-Osama Pakistan Really Needs: Police Reforms” – Asia Society, May 2, 2012.
  - “History Lessons From Karbala” – Foreign Policy, December 11, 2011.
  - “The Future of Al-Qaeda”, co-authored with Tariq Parvez (former chief of Pakistan’s Counterterrorism Authority), Foreign Policy, June 6, 2011.
  - Interview by Bernard Gwertzman: “A Low in Cycle of U.S.-Pakistan Ties”, Council on Foreign Relations, May 23, 2011.
  - Interview: “Engaging the Muslim World. A Conversation with Hassan Abbas”, Fletcher Forum, Vol. 34:2, Summer 2010.
  - “Tete a Tete with Hillary Clinton”, Foreign Policy, December 14, 2009.
  - “Defining Punjabi Taliban”, CTC Sentinel, Issue 4, vol. 2, April 2009.
  - “A Profile of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan”, CTC Sentinel, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, January 2008.
  - “Ousting of Saddam Regime will not be a delicate matter”, Boston Herald, March 29, 2003.
  - “Kashmir as a peace bridge: An idea whose time has come”, The News, November 20, 2001.
  - “Countering Osama’s PR Campaign”, The News, Pakistan, Nov. 13, 2001.
  - “Terrorists’ actions are an attempt to hijack Islam”, Boston Herald, September 30, 2001.

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