Najam Comments on Legacy of Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf

In an interview with The New York Times, Adil Najam, Dean Emeritus and Professor of International Relations and Earth and Environment at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, spoke about Pakistan‘s former President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his conflicted legacy in the country. 

The article, titled “Musharraf’s Legacy: A Conflicted Pakistan and a Bristling Military,” breaks down the late president’s life – he passed away on February 5, 2023 – and the extent to which the country’s current struggles can be laid at his feet, including the state of civil-military relations. As the article notes, Musharraf portrayed himself as a “swashbuckling modernizer who was determined to steer Pakistan away from the dour Islamism of its previous military ruler” and in doing so was adored by the West, securing funds from the United States. However, the public came to criticize him as he failed to live up to his promises and left Pakistan’s security establishment in a state of disarray.

Najam notes that “today’s Pakistan is the product of Musharraf…But I don’t think he intended it that way.” In discussing the country’s military, he notes that it has gone from an institution that most people respected to one subject to very public condemnation.

The full article can be read on The New York Times‘ website.

Adil Najam is a global public policy expert who served as the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice-Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human development. Read more about Professor Najam on his Pardee School faculty profile.