Making Sense of Post Covid-19 Politics

Edited by Huma Baqai and Nausheen Wasi

ISBN:978 969 716 094 5

Paperback price in Pakistan: PKR 995

Thanks to the efforts of 12 contributors, all respected scholars and researchers, Lightstone Publishers is proud to present Making Sense of Post COVID-1 9 Politics, an incisive and in-depth look at the economic, social, political and cultural topography created as a result of COVID-19. The book focuses on the myriad issues stemming from COVID-19, and provides a comprehensive study of how various spheres of governance, finance, international relations, tech, and more, have been impacted.

THIS BOOK WAS SUPPORTED BY THE KARACHI COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

The book is a remarkable compilation of articles from acknowledged experts. It should be vital reading for an insight into the post COVID-19 environment. It is a masterful comprehensive survey of the pandemic and its impact.

General Jahangir Karamat, Former Chief of Army Staff, Diplomat and Professor

A global pandemic COVID 19 has changed the world. It is the biggest catastrophe in recent times and its full impact is yet to be felt. “Making Sense of Post COVID-19 Politics” is an excellent study into the economic and social cost of the pandemic and its impact on international politics.

Zahid Hussain, Journalist

A timely and must-read book that will enhance our understanding of the post-COVID world in its different dimensions. It brings together some of Pakistan’s most distinguished academics and analysts to examine key issues that will shape the future.

Maleeha Lodhi, Diplomat and Journalist

Generating knowledge in times of information overload can bring thematic clarity. The book seeks to do just that for the post COVID-19 world. It looks at issues of human security and human survival and examines the sustainability of the liberal capitalist model. It is an important starting point for critical engagement with key issues emerging in contemporary Pakistan.

Sherry Rehman, Politician

The book is pioneering in nature and indicative in style. It dwells on questions thrown up by COVID -19. The contributors are all established scholars in their respective fields. The editors have managed to create a sequence across eleven chapters starting with thematic issues and rounding it off with regional and domestic challenges and prospects. The breadth of the subject covered is impressive. It includes security threats, major power tussles, economic divide, human security, and the failure of collective humanitarian response mechanisms. Additionally, and commendably, the roping in of Kashmir and the 18th Amendment into the scholarly debate is very timely. The book is an interesting read and provides an overall understanding of the myriad challenges emanating from COVID -19 which, if not tackled effectively and comprehensively and at the earliest possible, would affect us all in far-reaching ways at all levels. I am sure the book will help generate focused and constructive discussion on the subjects in the months ahead.

Abdul Basit, Career Diplomat

A bird's-eye view of the changed and rapidly- evolving geopolitical landscape, the book is a useful and timely compilation of work by eminent Pakistani scholars and area specialists and an essential read for all those trying to map and make sense of the post pandemic world.

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister

Bettina Robotka

Bettina Robotka is a historian. She was former Professor of South Asian Studies at the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Humboldt University, Berlin. From 2005 to 2010 and 2012 to 2013, she joined the HEC foreign faculty programme as a full professor and taught at the IBA and IoBM Karachi. She is co-author of the book Blood over Different Shades of Green.

Farhan Hanif Siddiqui

Dr. Farhan Hanif Siddiqui is Director and Associate Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He has also been associated with the Department of International Relations at the University of Karachi and the Middle East Research Institute in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He is the author of, The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements (London: Routledge, 2012).

Huma Baqai (contributor and anthology co-editor)

Dr. Huma Baqai is Associate Dean, Faculty of Business Administration and Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at IBA Karachi. She was also associated with Department of International Relations, University of Karachi. Her teaching and research experience spans over a period of 25 years. She is a member Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs, member Advisory Committee on Status of Women, Government of Sindh and Vice Chairperson, Karachi Council on Foreign Relations. She has been a part of Track-II and Track 1.5 diplomacy between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ishrat Afshan Abbasi

Dr. Ishrat Afshan Abbasi is Chairperson Department of International Relations at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Her research interests include peace and conflict studies and human security. She has represented Pakistan at various international forums.

Kaiser Bengali

Dr. Kaiser Bengali is an economist with over 40 years’ experience in teaching, research and policy advice in Pakistan and abroad. He has taught and conducted research at prestigious institutions in Pakistan and abroad and was Managing Director of the Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC). He has authored/edited nine books. He has also served as Head of the Chief Minister’s Policy Reform Unit, Government of Balochistan and Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh for Planning & Development. He was the first head and the architect of the Benazir Income Support Program. He was also Sindh’s representative on the 7th National Finance Commission and Balochistan’s representative on the 9th National Finance Commission.

Maria Saifuddin Effendi

Dr. Maria Saifuddin Effendi is Assistant Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies, National Defence University. Her areas of expertise are Conflict Resolution and Peace-building. She has many national and international publications to her credit and is recipient of many fellowships.

Nausheen Wasi (contributor and anthology co-editor)

Dr. Nausheen Wasi is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi. She has over 20 years experience in research and teaching. She is visiting faculty at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), National Institute of Management (NIM) and a visiting fellow at Air War College, Karachi. She also worked at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) for four years.

Rabia Akhtar

Dr. Rabia Akhtar heads Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research and School of Integrated Social Sciences, University of Lahore. She has authored the book ‘The Blind Eye: U.S. Non-proliferation Policy towards Pakistan from Ford to Clinton’. She is the Editor of Pakistan Politico. She is a member, the Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. Dr. Akhtar is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the South Asia Center, Atlantic Council, US.

Sabiha Mehreen

Sabiha Mehreen is Research Associate to Dr. Huma Baqai at IBA Karachi and has several publications with her. Her areas of interest include security and gender studies.

Saira Bano Orakzai

Dr. Saira Bano Orakzai is Research Associate at the Chair, Critical Studies in Higher Education, Nelson Mandela University and a Charles Wallace Trust Fellow at the Human Rights Consortium, UK. She was also a Research fellow at Harvard University and at the University of Oxford.

Sardar Masood Khan

Sardar Masood Khan is the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He had a long diplomatic career. He was Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2005 to 2008. He served as chief negotiator on nuclear security for the Nuclear Security Summit from 2009-2014. He has also served as the Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.

Shahid Hameed

Shahid Hameed is faculty International Relations at Women University Bagh, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Ph. D scholar at National Defence University, Islamabad. His areas of interest include security studies and globalization.