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Dr. Rasul Bakhsh Rais

Dr. Rais has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  He served at LUMS as Professor of Political Science for about 11 years. Before joining LUMS, he remained associated with the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad for nearly 22 years as Professor/Director, Area Study Centre and prior to that as Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations.  He was Quaid-i-Azam Distinguished Professor of Pakistan Studies at Columbia University, New York for 3 years, 1991-94.  He took the Fulbright fellowship at Wake Forest University (1997-98), the Social Science Research Fellowship at Harvard University (1989-90), and the Rockefeller Foundation fellowship in International Relations at the University of California, Berkeley (1985-85).

Dr. Rais is the author of ‘Recovering the Frontier State: War, Ethnicity and State in Afghanistan’ (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008), ‘War Without Winners: Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition after the Cold War’ (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1996), and ‘Indian Ocean and the Superpowers: Economic, Political and Strategic Perspectives’ (London: Croom Helm, 1986). He is the editor of ‘State, Society and Democratic Change in Pakistan’ (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1997) and co-edited ‘Pakistan, 1995’ (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996) with Charles H. Kennedy.

He has published widely in professional journals on political and security issues peraining to South Asia, Indian Ocean and Afghanistan. His current research interests are:“Modernism, State and Challenge of Radical Islam in Pakistan.”

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Youth of the nation

The sudden rise of the social movement rejects the conventional analysis that the youth is depoliticised and mainly interested in advancing their careers What we...

Why is Musharraf isolated?

Looking at the history of many of the figures that occupy cabinet and other high positions in the government, anyone serious about political business...

Whose war is this?

The war our security forces are fighting is our war, a war for the future of Pakistan. The alternative of allowing mini religious fiefdoms...

Where do we go from here?

The scenes witnessed on May 12 had a dangerous dimension not possessed by normal political clashes: the ethnic character of the group used by...

Under foreign influence

Standing up to extremism, and countering terrorism, is a part of liberal values. However, this is simply a political position and does not represent...

The unmediated media

In the coming years Pakistan's media, both print and electronic, is likely to grow in number, influence and power, and contribute greatly to the...

The threat from within

There are two clear paths before us-militancy and non-violence; one leads to hopelessness and self-destruction and the other to progress and modernity The tragic episode...

The rising threat of extremism

The Pakistani state, or more precisely the military rulers and the politicians guided by them, must show courage and constrain extremists within the limits...

The rise of student power

Right after some degree of economic satisfaction, people with some history of democratic struggle want the next thing on their hierarchy of desires i.e....

The regime’s new challenges

Political cycles have a life of their own and often spin out of control, whether the rulers like it or not. It is obvious...