With the intersection of South Asia and its geopolitics at the center of the South Asia Center’s vision, we work to find multilateral solutions to South Asia’s most vital global challenges. The competition between Asia’s rising giants will shape the future of the region as well as the world, and Pakistan sits at the very nexus of this global phenomena. For this reason, Pakistan continues to be an integral part of the SAC’s body of work and its growing interest in the study and research of Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy. This interest is linked to the role the Center hopes to play in upscaling bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan, emphasizing the country’s importance in a more integrated South Asia, and serving as a convening center for academics, policymakers, and thought leaders in this space.
The Pakistan initiative seeks to reaffirm support for and increase knowledge of Pakistan in the United States, and forge deeper ties between American policymakers, thought leaders, and the broader public with their counterparts in Pakistan. The core elements of the initiative will be to help build an adapted, inclusive body of work that bridges the gap between the west and Pakistan by encouraging partnerships, free and fair trade, democratic values, and the core elements of the rules-based order.
The initiative will focus on three key pillars:
- To mobilize support for a stronger US-Pakistan partnership;
- To convene networks of influential policymakers to galvanize concrete action; and
- To develop substantive policy recommendations in priority areas.
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SouthAsiaSource
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Understanding “rape culture” in Bangladesh, India, & Pakistan
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Countless examples of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Asia from last year raise significant concerns about so-called “progress” made in improving women’s standing and fighting rape culture in the region. Political discourse in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is deeply misguided regarding such issues, often leading to systematic victim-blaming which—knowingly or unknowingly—helps the perpetrators.
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Other South Asia Center initiatives
Developing a long-term transatlantic framework for peace and security in Afghanistan
Between fall 2020 and summer 2021, the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center will host a set off private, high-level strategic dialogues to develop and advocate for a longer-term strategic outlook for ensuring stability in Afghanistan as well as maintaining US and European counter-terrorism interests. This effort will look beyond the US elections, recognizing that a political consensus is emerging to support a drawdown in US security commitments, but no such consensus exists on the long-term relationship with Afghanistan.
US-India trade initiative
This working group will take a political-economic approach in its examination of US-India trade relations. It will begin by developing a shared understanding of existing formal and informal governmental relationships that drive current trade positions and negotiation, and will critically examine the political and economic incentives. It will then identify and consider potential agreements with mutual benefit and limited areas of disagreement that may be pursued to facilitate trust, as well as policy tools available to the United States and India.
The South Asia Center is the hub for the Atlantic Council’s analysis of the political, social, geographical, and cultural diversity of the region. At the intersection of South Asia and its geopolitics, SAC cultivates dialogue to shape policy and forge ties between the region and the global community.