Hassan Abbas

Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Centre (NESA), National Defense University in Washington DC. He serves as a senior advisor at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and also at Asia Society. His current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism & rule of law reforms in developing states. Earlier he served as professor and department chair at National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs (2011-2019) and as the Distinguished Quaid i Azam Professor at Columbia University (2009-2011). He held various fellowships including at Harvard Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies Program & Program on Negotiation (2002-04); the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2005-09); Asia Society in New York as Bernard Schwartz fellow (2009-2011); and as a Carnegie fellow at the New America Foundation (2016-2018). He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and an LL.M. in International Law from Nottingham University, United Kingdom, where he was a Britannia Chevening Scholar (1999). He earned his BA from Government College, Lahore, and master's degree in political science from the Punjab University, Pakistan. He appeared on various television news shows on CNN, Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose Show, MSNBC (Abrams Report and Hardball), C-Span (Washington Journal) and various programs on CBS, and NBC as an analyst on security related issues in South Asia and Middle East. He has been interviewed for many news stories and analyses for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Guardian, etc. He has also testified before the Foreign Relations Committee, US House of Representatives on “Women fighting for Peace: Lessons for Today’s Conflicts” in 2016, and before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Congress on “Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites” in 2019. He delivered many keynote addresses in conferences and seminars including in Australia, China, India, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, UAE and United Kingdom. He runs WATANDOST, an Educational Blog About Religion, Politics and Security in South West Asia. His website is at http://drhassanabbas.com/