Husain Haqqani

Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia

husain_haqqani

At A Glance:

Husain Haqqani is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he co-edits the journal Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. He served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011.

Biography

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.

Amb. 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.

Amb. 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, Amb. Haqqani is co-editor with Hillel Fradkin and Eric Brown of Hudson’s journal, Current Trends in Islamist Ideology.

Amb. 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, South-East Asia, the Middle-East, and US-Pakistan relations.

Amb. 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.

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

Events
10
October 2023
Past Event
Pakistan in Crisis Once Again
Featured Speakers:
Amber Rahim Shamsi
Aqil Shah
Asfandiyar Mir
Uzair Younus
Moderator:
Husain Haqqani
Security forces take a measure in front of a damaged police compound after a suicide bombing attack in Bara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on July 20, 2023. (Hussain Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
10
October 2023
Past Event
Pakistan in Crisis Once Again

Join Ambassador Husain Haqqani, senior fellow and director of Hudson’s South and Central Asia Program, for a conversation on this and more with Amber Rahim Shamsi, Asfandiyar Mir, Aqil Shah, and Uzair Younus.

Security forces take a measure in front of a damaged police compound after a suicide bombing attack in Bara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on July 20, 2023. (Hussain Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Amber Rahim Shamsi
Aqil Shah
Asfandiyar Mir
Uzair Younus
Moderator:
Husain Haqqani
03
April 2023
Past Event
US Policy and Taliban Rule in Afghanistan
Featured Speakers:
Adela Raz
Husain Haqqani
Raz event
03
April 2023
Past Event
US Policy and Taliban Rule in Afghanistan

Join Hudson Institute for a conversation on these issues and more with Ambassador Adela Raz, former ambassador of Afghanistan to the US and visiting fellow at Hudson Institute, and Ambassador Husain Haqqani, former ambassador of Pakistan to the US and director of Hudson Institute’s South and Central Asia program.

Raz event
Featured Speakers:
Adela Raz
Husain Haqqani
05
October 2022
Past Event
The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD
Featured Speakers:
Husain Haqqani
Dr. Harlan Ullman
Susan Eisenhower
Hon. Dov S. Zakheim
People look at their damaged house after tornados in Round Rock, Texas, on March 22, 2022. (Bo Lee/Xinhua via Getty Images)
05
October 2022
Past Event
The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD

Over the past few years, the world has witnessed a global pandemic, cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, extreme weather, and war in Ukraine. Is the world, and in particular the United States, prepared for future crises?

People look at their damaged house after tornados in Round Rock, Texas, on March 22, 2022. (Bo Lee/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Husain Haqqani
Dr. Harlan Ullman
Susan Eisenhower
Hon. Dov S. Zakheim
01
September 2020
Past Event
Video Event | A Conversation with Assistant Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim on Combating Anti-Semitism
Featured Speakers:
Husain Haqqani
Ellie Cohanim
01
September 2020
Past Event
Video Event | A Conversation with Assistant Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim on Combating Anti-Semitism

Join Hudson Institute for a conversation with U.S. Assistant Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ellie Cohanim on the challenges the Uni

Featured Speakers:
Husain Haqqani
Ellie Cohanim
Pakistan’s Perpetual Crisis
Caption
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif addresses an audience at the party office of Pakistan Muslim League in Lahore, Pakistan, on February 9, 2024. (Photo by Elke Scholiers/Getty Images)
husain_haqqani
husain_haqqani
Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia
Commentary
9 Min Read
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) General Commander Hossein Salami and IRGC Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani attend a funeral prayer for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Caption
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) General Commander Hossein Salami and IRGC Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani attend a funeral prayer for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
husain_haqqani
husain_haqqani
Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia
In the Media