A Conversation with:
Dr. Christine Fair
Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor, Security Studies Program
Georgetown University
Javid Ahmad
Nonresident Fellow, South Asia Center
Atlantic Council
Jasmine El-Gamal
Senior Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center
Atlantic Council
Hagar Chemali
Former Middle East Policy Adviser
US Department of the Treasury
Introduced and Moderated by:
Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy
Director, South Asia Center
Atlantic Council
In recent months, ISIS has made significant inroads into South Asia, a region already riddled by militancy and terrorism. In Afghanistan, ISIS has established a local affiliate, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, which has challenged the Afghan government and NATO forces, as well as its rival militant groups, including the Taliban, for territory and influence. In Pakistan, the group has showcased its presence and influence by conducting deadly attacks on soft targets, including on a Sufi shrine. In India, many radicalized youth and terrorist cells have claimed allegiance to ISIS, which provides a fertile recruitment platform for the group. In Bangladesh, ISIS is working to carve out territory and has claimed past attacks on Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Sufi Muslims. The group maintains a robust social media presence throughout the region, which serves as a dangerous platform for promoting extremist ideologies.
Please join the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center on August 21 at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the emerging influence of ISIS activities in South Asia. In a discussion introduced and moderated by Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy, director of the South Asia Center, Dr.Christine Fair, Javid Ahmad, Jasmine El-Gamal, and Hagar Chemali will discuss how the group operates, how it impacts individual states internally, and how those governments-and the United States-should respond to this growing phenomenon.