Adil Najam
Mr. Adil Najam is the assistant Professor for International
Relations at Boston University. He is from Pakistan and specializes
in South Asia-related political and economic issues. He holds
a Ph.D. and two Masters degrees from MIT and a specialization
in Negotiation from the Program on Negotiation at the Harvard
Law School. He has published many papers and articles on the
Indo-Pak conflict and the consequences of the perpetual state
of war in the region. He has been a member of various panels
on the Kashmir conflict including the Harvard Law School Kashmir
Symposium in 2001.
Questionnaire
What topics would you be most interested in presenting
at the conference?
Title of presentation: "Creating the Conditions for
Peace in Kashmir: The Human Development Dimensions"
I would like to give a presentation on possible ways to
break through the impasse in Kashmir from a negotiation perspective.
Most people focus on magic ‘formulas’ and ‘road
maps'… I believe that well before we get there we need
to think about what ‘conditions’ are needed to
move towards peace, and how to create these. I also will focus
on the ‘development costs’ of the Kashmir conflict
to both India and Pakistan… and more precisely on the
development benefits of peace there.
What are the other core issues that you feel must be
addressed by any sustainable effort towards the resolution
of the India-Pakistan conflict over Jammu and Kashmir?
Most discussions spend too much energy on understanding
(and sometimes fanning) the reasons for the conflict…
more attention needs to be paid to making the case for peace….
What will peace in Kashmir mean to India and Pakistan…
that will be my focus.
Why did you decide to join our conference and commit
to engaging in this dialogue with speakers and participants?
It's needed…. It's urgently needed… and South
Asians, if we don’t talk about peace, then who will!
(Plus, I was contacted by some very inspiring and persuasive
people!)
Please share a statement of your hopes for the conference
or thoughts about the significance of peace initiatives in
areas of conflict.
My hopes are high but aspirations are realistic… one
conference cannot solve the problem, but maybe it can move
the conversation from one that focuses only on the reasons
for conflict to thinking about the benefits of peace….
Before any meaningful ‘formula’ emerges, the essence
of the conversation on Kashmir will have to change from one
of blame to one of ‘problem solving’.
Could you suggest to us your preferred news source?
Internet news sites in both India and Pakistan
Recommended books?
Any recent volume of the South Asia Human Development Report!
Contact information
Dr. Adil Najam
Associate Professor of International Negotiation and Diplomacy,
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts University
160 Packard Avenue
Medford, MA 02155,
USA
Phone: (617) 627-3700
Fax: (617) 627-3712
E-mail: adil.najam@tufts.edu
|
