Moeed Yusuf Presents on Militancy in Pakistan

Pardee Center Research Fellow Moeed Yusuf made a presentation on Pakistan’s fight against militant extremists operating in North Western Pakistan at a seminar on Militancy in Pakistan held at the Fletcher School, Tufts University on September 30, 2009.

Moeed’s presentation titled Pakistan’s Swat Offensive and the Future of Militancy highlighted the tactical and strategic aspects of the military action against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. Moeed argued that the military had managed a successful offensive but cautioned that the threat to Pakistan was much deeper. He discussed the implications of continuing U.S. presence in Afghanistan and the spillover effect which is likely to keep Pakistan unstable in the coming months and years. He was also critical of Pakistani state policies towards militants and contended that it still lacked a clear direction on how to integrate the militants into mainstream society. At the heart, militancy was being sustained by a call for better governance, justice, and equity, all aspects where the Pakistani state’s failure has created a vacuum to be filled by non-state actors, in this case the Taliban.

Moeed is also a Doctoral candidate and Senior Teaching Fellow at Boston University’s Political Science Department and is currently teaching a course on International Political Economy at the University’s Department of International Relations.