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The South Asia Institute
The South Asia Institute's mission is to produce impactful research and other activities on the region and its relations with Washington. More broadly, the Institute aims to provide a prominent and nonpartisan platform for the best thought leadership on South Asia, with a particular emphasis on voices from the region.
Featured Experts
Michael Kugelman
Director, South Asia Institute
![Michael Kugelman](/sites/default/files/styles/square_244x244/public/media/uploads/images/michael_kugelman_bio.jpg)
Read more from MichaelAfghanistan today is a messy, mixed picture. After almost four decades of war, there is no more active conflict. But the country is fully controlled by a Taliban regime just as brutal as it was in the 1990s, and it is suffering through searing levels of humanitarian and economic stress. Relative peace may have arrived, but at great cost.
Mirwais Balkhi
Fellow
![A photo of Mirwais Balkhi speaking at a Wilson Center event](/sites/default/files/styles/square_244x244/public/media/uploads/images/MirwaisBalkhi.jpg)
Nader Nadery
Senior Fellow
![A formal photo of Nader Nadery.](/sites/default/files/styles/square_244x244/public/media/uploads/images/NaderNadery_Cropped.jpg)
Nirupama Rao
Former Public Policy Fellow and Asia Program Advisory Board Member
![Nirupama Rao](/sites/default/files/styles/square_244x244/public/media/uploads/images/Nirupama_Rao.jpeg)
![Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan.](/sites/default/files/styles/2up_image/public/media/uploads/images/41997838385_635787c7dd_k.jpg)
Afghanistan: Hindsight Up Front
Afghanistan is led by one of the world’s most brutal regimes, and it is suffering through one of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises. The Wilson Center’s Hindsight Up Front Initiative aims to help ensure that Afghanistan continues to figure in policy and public debates in Washington and beyond.
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Staff and Fellows
![Michael Kugelman](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/michael_kugelman_bio.jpg)
Michael Kugelman
![A photo of Mirwais Balkhi speaking at a Wilson Center event](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/MirwaisBalkhi.jpg)
Mirwais Balkhi
Former Afghan Minister of Education
![William B. Milam](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/Milam_William.jpg)
William B. Milam
Former Senior U.S. Diplomat and U.S. Ambassador in both South Asia and West Africa, with publications on both regions
![A formal photo of Nader Nadery.](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/NaderNadery_Cropped.jpg)
Nader Nadery
Associate fellow, Asser Institute; Visiting fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford
![Baqir Sajjad](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/Baquir_sajjad_bio.jpg)
Baqir Sajjad
Diplomatic and National Security Correspondent, Dawn Newspaper
Global Fellows
![MEP_Akbar](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/akbar%20headshot%202024.jpg)
Akbar Ahmed
Distinguished Professor and Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, School of International Service, American University; Former Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland
![Suman Bery](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/suman_bery.jpg)
Suman Bery
Non-resident Fellow, Bruegel (Brussels)
![Robert Hathaway](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/10984459563_7b81719301_o.jpg)
Robert Hathaway
Former Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson Center; Former Public Policy Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center
![Ishrat Husain](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/ishrat_husain_for_web.jpg)
Ishrat Husain
Former Governor of Pakistan's Central Bank, and Former Adviser to the Pakistani Prime Minister
![Farahnaz Ispahani image](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/Farahnaz%20Ispahani.jpg)
Farahnaz Ispahani
Senior Fellow, Religious Freedom Institute
![Sanjay Kathuria](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/SanjayKathuria.png)
Sanjay Kathuria
Adjunct Professor/Visiting Faculty, Georgetown University/Ashoka University; Senior Visiting Fellow/Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi/Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore
![Venkateswaran Lokanathan](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/Venkateswaran_Lokanathan.jpg)
Venkateswaran Lokanathan
Director and Associate Professor, School of International Cooperation, Security and Strategic Languages, Rashtriya Raksha University; and Former Assistant Director, National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India
![Neeti Nair](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/neeti_nair.jpg)
Neeti Nair
Professor of History, University of Virginia
![Nadia Naviwala](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/nadia_naviwala.jpg)
Nadia Naviwala
Independent Writer on Foreign Aid, Local Philanthropy, Civil Society, and Education in Pakistan; Former USIP Country Representative for Pakistan, Former USAID Pakistan Desk Officer; Former U.S. Senate National Security Aide; Former Public Policy Fellow;
![Nirupama Rao](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/uploads/images/Nirupama_Rao.jpeg)
Nirupama Rao
Former Indian Foreign Secretary; Former Indian Ambassador to Washington and Beijing
![Huma Yusuf](/sites/default/files/styles/square_85x85/public/media/images/person/yusuf_huma.jpg)
Huma Yusuf
Columnist, Dawn Newspaper, Pakistan