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A US flag flies off the stern of a tour boat at the Port of Los Angele in California on July 31, 2025. (Getty Images)
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.
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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.
Featured Research
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October 2023
Past Event
Pakistan in Crisis Once Again
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Amber Rahim Shamsi
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Uzair Younus
Moderator:
10
October 2023
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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.
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03
April 2023
Past Event
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03
April 2023
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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.
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October 2022
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The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD
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October 2022
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September 2020
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Video Event | A Conversation with Assistant Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim on Combating Anti-Semitism
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September 2020
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June 2020
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Video Event | China-India Border Clash: What’s Behind China’s Belligerence?
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January 2020
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January 2020
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Afghanistan's Past and Future: The U.S. Launch of the AISS 2019 Report
2019 was a turbulent and busy year for Afghanistan—from the presidential election to the stalled negotiations with the Taliban and speculation of a
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December 2018
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Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN)
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September 2018
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23
October 2017
Past Event
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Secretary Leon E. Panetta
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Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX)
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Ambassador Alberto Fernandez
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
Ray Takeyh
William Wechsler
Lally Weymouth
General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.)
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE)
Ambassador Dennis Ross
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Catherine Herridge
Representative Robert Pittenger (R-TX)
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
Stephen K. Bannon
23
October 2017
Past Event
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Secretary Leon E. Panetta
Lally Weymouth
Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA)
Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA)
General Charles “Chuck” Wald, US Army (Ret.)
Ambassador Alberto Fernandez
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
Ray Takeyh
William Wechsler
Lally Weymouth
General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.)
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE)
Ambassador Dennis Ross
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Catherine Herridge
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Stephen K. Bannon
18
May 2016
Past Event
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Asma Jahangir
09
September 2015
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50 Years After the 1965 War: What Has Changed in India-Pakistan Relations?
Featured Speakers:
Stephen Cohen
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09
September 2015
Past Event
50 Years After the 1965 War: What Has Changed in India-Pakistan Relations?
Stephen Cohen, Shuja Nawaz, and Col. John Gill (Ret.) join Amb. Husain Haqqani to discuss the roots and legacy of the 1965 India-Pakistan War.
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Stephen Cohen
John H. Gill
Shuja Nawaz
20
January 2015
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Harlan Ullman
20
November 2014
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14
November 2014
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24
September 2014
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24
September 2014
Past Event
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Despite the considerable common ground between two of the world’s largest and oldest democracies, the United States and India have yet to realize th
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01
August 2014
Past Event
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August 2014
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R Balasubramaniam
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30
June 2014
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28
May 2014
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May 2014
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April 2014
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President Donald Trump looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers remarks during a joint news conference at the White House on September 29, 2025. (Getty Images)
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Husain Haqqani appears on the John Batchelor Show to discuss the implications of the new Saudi Arbia–Pakistan defense agreement.
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Maxar satellite imagery from June 22, 2025, shows extensive building damage across the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center following recent airstrikes. Multiple rooftops appear collapsed or charred in today's post-strike image. (Maxar Technologies satellite image via Getty Images)
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FBI agents stage in a neighborhood on June 15, 2025, in Green Isle, Minnesota as law enforcement agencies search for Vance Boelter. (Christopher Mark Juhn via Getty Images)
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An Indian soldier stands guard near the Line of Control in Kashmir on May 19, 2025. (Tauseef Mustafa via Getty Images)
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People hold a Pakistani national flag on a motorbike to celebrate the country's Independence Day in Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 14, 2022. (Sajjad/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard atop an armored vehicle near the Clock Tower in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on June 2, 2025. (Firdous Nazir via Getty Images)
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Pakistani ranger and Indian Border Security Force member on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on May 20, 2025. (Narinder Nanu via Getty Images)
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Workers wait along a road in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on May 14, 2025. (Sajjad Qayyum via Getty Images)
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Indian Border Security Force personnel and Pakistani Rangers lower their respective flags during the daily beating retreat ceremony at the India-Pakistan Wagah Post on August 15, 2021. (Narinder Nanu via Getty Images)
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People take a boat ride in the waters of Indus River near the Lansdowne Bridge in Sukkur, Pakistan, on April 28, 2025. (Shahid Ali via Getty Images)
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Houthi fighters brandish their weapons during a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 11, 2024. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)