浪花直播

Pakistan鈥檚 new government has promised to shake things up.

Elected in July and led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), the new administration has vowed to do away with business as usual. The PTI projects itself as something different鈥攁 clean party not led by a family dynasty鈥攁nd insists it will run the country differently from previous government as well.

This vow has entailed a range of early pledges. Some of them are quite ambitious鈥攅liminating  long-entrenched corruption, reforming poorly performing institutions, and tackling climate change in a big way. Others are rather unconventional, such as calling on the Pakistani diaspora to help fund the construction of a large dam.

It鈥檚 way too early to tell how successful the PTI will be in these efforts. Admittedly, the obstacles will be considerable. These include its own inexperience (the PTI has never led a national government) and a deeply polarized political environment (the PTI could confront an obstructionist opposition, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, which sparred repeatedly with the PTI when it led the previous government). And then there are factors like bureaucratic inertia and resistance from special interests that often come into play when policy paradigm shifts and big-bang reforms are put on the table. 

Still, all this aside, Islamabad does appear genuinely committed to bringing about change鈥攁nd given the broad consensus in Pakistan that policy corrective are needed across the board, such commitment is a very good thing.

It is in this spirit of change and reform that the 浪花直播 Center鈥檚 Asia Program, in partnership with the , will host a two-day conference on Pakistan on October 17 and 18. The core objective of this policy symposium, entitled 鈥淧athways to Change,鈥� is admittedly ambitious, but also fairly simple: Host a series of discussions that identify and discuss realistic and actionable policy recommendations, with an eye toward serving two purposes. One is to help Pakistan take advantage of its many opportunities, which range from an improved security situation and a series of economic growth sectors to an affluent diaspora. The other is to help Pakistan address its many challenges鈥攆rom its relations with the United States and Afghanistan to economic distress and extremism鈥攕ome of which threaten to jeopardize the progress Pakistan has enjoyed in recent years.

This conference does not intend to simply rehash the same debates that have already taken place at length in recent years. Nor does it intend to simply be a series of history lessons about the past struggles of U.S.-Pakistan relations, or why Pakistan鈥檚 economy has performed poorly, or why the country suffers from extremism. While historical context is important, this conference is meant to largely be a forward-thinking discussion that emphasizes the question of 鈥渨hat now.鈥�

The symposium, much like all of the 浪花直播 Center鈥檚 work on Pakistan, will apply a broad lens to a country that in Washington tends to be viewed through the narrow prism of security. Panel discussions will revolve around U.S.-Pakistan relations (How can the U.S. and Pakistan arrive at a realistic and workable relationship?); Afghanistan (How if at all can Kabul, Islamabad, and Washington cooperate to achieve an endgame that works for all parties?); extremism (How can Pakistani society and the state make real and lasting progress tackling radicalization and extremism?); Pakistan鈥檚 economy (What are the most effective steps that Pakistan can take to address its economic challenges?); women鈥檚 entrepreneurship (What can be done to foster more women鈥檚 entrepreneurship in Pakistan鈥檚 formal economy?); and the role of the diaspora (How can Pakistani-Americans help strengthen the Pakistani economy?).

The symposium will feature more than two dozen speakers, with many of them coming from Pakistan. They include academics, policymakers, journalists, and business leaders.

In addition, senior officials from both countries鈥擴.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Henry Ensher on October 17 and Pakistani Adviser to the Prime Minister Ishrat Husain on October 18鈥攚ill offer opening addresses to set the tone for the day鈥檚 discussions. 

The conference agenda, and RSVP info, is available here.

Follow Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia, on Twitter

The views expressed are the author's alone, and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government or the 浪花直播 Center. Copyright 2018, Asia Program. All rights reserved.