Prof. Najam’s Feature Interview Appears in ‘The News’

The News International, Pakistan’s largest selling English newspaper, published a wide-ranging conversation and interview with Prof. Adil Najam, the Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Boston University Professor of International Relations and of Geography and the Environment, in its weekend magazine (January 2, 2011). Describing Prof. Najam as “a leading expert on diplomacy, international relations and environmental policy,” the interview covered a wide set of topics including the state of Pakistanis in USA, global political developments, and the state of the global environment.

In speaking about current trends in Pakistan, Prof. Najam pointed out, “Personally, I am most concerned about the blanket of discontent that we Pakistanis have imposed on ourselves. It feels like we have just ‘given up.’ Not only do people think that things are bad, it seems that they have convinced themselves that things can’t ever be better. This pessimism is very detrimental for our national psyche and it is pervasive amongst Pakistanis abroad as much as amongst Pakistanis in Pakistan.”

In responding to the question on the recent WikiLeaks scandal, Prof. Najam felt that this will “change the nature of diplomacy,” because: “Diplomats will now be much more careful, much more hesitant about what they say or write in their memos. Things they used to say quietly will now be said in whispers; things that used to be whispered will not be said at all. The implication is that even though the purpose of WikiLeaks was to give more transparency, the final result will be less transparency: because diplomats will become more careful, even paranoid, about what they put to paper.”

Finally, in response to a question about the key climate change challenges for Pakistan, Prof. Najam suggested: “Best policies for Pakistan to combat climate change are the exact same policies needed for Pakistan’s development. For countries like Pakistan, development — not just economic growth — is the best defence against climate change because it increases the resilience of the poor to deal with the impacts of climate change. This means we should focus on issues like energy, water, health etc. in the context of climate change. When I speak of development I am looking at social equity, distribution and access to wealth and poverty. All over the world, and especially in Pakistan, climate change will hit the poor first, will hit the poor hardest and will hit the poor most disproportionately. It is the poor that we need to focus our attention on.”

The full interview in The News can be read here. An earlier profile of Dr. Adil Najam in The Boston Globe can be read here.