Husain Haqqani

Husain Haqqani is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011 and is widely credited with managing a difficult partnership during a critical phase in the global war on terrorism.

Ambassador Haqqani’s distinguished career in government includes serving as an advisor to four Pakistani prime ministers: Yusuf Raza Gilani, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. He also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1993.

Ambassador Haqqani is the author of four books: Pakistan Between Mosque and Military (Carnegie, 2005), Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States and an Epic History of Misunderstanding (Public Affairs, 2013), India vs Pakistan: Why Can’t We Just Be Friends? (Juggernaut, 2016) and Reimagining Pakistan: Transforming a Dysfunctional Nuclear State (Harper Collins, 2018).

Considered an expert on radical Islamist movements, Ambassador Haqqani is co-editor with Hillel Fradkin and Eric Brown of Hudson’s journal, Current Trends in Islamist Ideology.

Ambassador Haqqani was formerly director of the Center of International Relations, and a professor of the practice of International Relations at Boston University. His areas of expertise include diplomacy, Muslim political movements, international journalism, intercultural relations, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Ambassador Haqqani received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations from the University of Karachi. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, he acquired traditional Islamic learning as well as a modern education in international relations. His journalism career started with work as East Asian correspondent for Arabia: The Islamic World Review during the turbulent years following the Iranian revolution. During this period he wrote extensively on Muslims in China and East Asia and Islamic political movements. Later, as Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, he covered the war in Afghanistan and acquired a deep understanding of militant Islamist Jihadi groups.

Ambassador Haqqani has contributed numerous op-eds and articles to international publications and also regularly comments on television and radio programs.