Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Centre (NESA), National Defense University in Washington DC. He serves as a senior advisor at Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and a senior fellow at the Centre of Global Policy, a think tank focusing on intersection of U.S. foreign policy and Muslim geopolitics. His current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism & 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).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.

Select Keynote Lectures, Congressional Testimonies and Conference Presentations:

Testified in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing at the U.S. Congress on Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites, October 23, 2019: https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Hassan%20Abbas-%20NDU_0.pdf

Keynote Speaker in the University of Kufa, Iraq discussing the tragedy of Karbala and lessons on how to defeat sectarianism, October 6, 2019.

Keynote Speaker at Army Navy Club in Washington D.C. discussing “Nuclear Proliferation and Dangers posed by India-Pakistan Rivalry,” – Feb 26, 2019.

Designed and led 3-day workshops on “Human Trafficking Challenges in South Asia” in Islamabad and Lahore, Pakistan for American Institute of Pakistan Studies and the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan – Dec 17-23, 2018.

Speaker at NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga, Latvia discussing Islamist radicalization trends and how to build counter narratives – July 6, 2017.

Keynote Speaker at a conference organized by Joint Special Operations University, organized in cooperation with CANSOFCOM and SOCNORTH in Tampa, Florida presenting on “Countering Transregional Terrorism”, June 13, 2017.

Keynote talk at the Centre for Strategic Studies, Baku, Azerbaijan on “Iran vs. Saudi Arabia: Sectarianism, Power Politics & Proxy Wars,” Nov 21, 2016.

Keynote speaker at the annual conference of International Police Association in Macau & Beijing, China talking about “Counter-narrative to religious extremism and global counterterrorism cooperation,” April 9, 2016.

Testified before House Foreign Relations Committee hearing on “Women fighting for Peace: Lessons for Today’s Conflicts,” March 22, 2016; https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20160322/104721/HHRG-114-FA00-Ws...

Panelist at the plenary session of the centenary conference of the International Association of Women Police in Cardiff, UK to deliberate on the role of women and countering violent extremism in Muslim states, especially Pakistan, August 26, 2015.

Speaker at the New America Foundation Conference on ‘Future of War’ focusing on ‘What ISIS means for the future of War?’, February 25, 2015.

Keynote speaker delivering Mazzocco Memorial lecture on ‘The Idea of Justice in Islam: Traditional and Contemporary Debates within Islamic Communities’ at the University of Portland, Oregon, February 2, 2015.

Speaker at the Istanbul World Political Forum focusing on ‘Global Peace through civilian law enforcement model’, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 27, 2013.

Areas of Expertise

Security, Religion & Politics in South Asia & Middle East

Rule of Law & Policing in Developing States

Building Narratives for Preventing & Countering & Violent Extremism

Publications (Select)

Books:

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.

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)