During a two week research trip to Pakistan in mid-April 2008, the PCR team interviewed more than 200 Pakistanis and several dozen expatriates in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Attock, Quetta and Karachi. The team met with the newly elected leadership, former generals, journalists, economists, nationalist leaders, trade unionists, diplomats, university professors, bloggers, ulema, aid workers, security analysts, leaders of the lawyers’ movement, and students at an elementary school, a madrassa, an Afghan refugee primary school, and a university.
The post-election visit focused on the major issues affecting the country and examined ways in which the United States can be most supportive of Pakistani-led initiatives during this critical transition period.
Frederick Barton and Karin von Hippel are codirectors of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project. Mehlaqa Samdani is a consultant and advisor to the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project.
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