Collateral Damage: Bhutto’s Assassination and the Future of Pakistan

Xenia Dormandy, Harvard University
Interviewed by David Rice, Strategic Policy Concepts

May 1, 2008  - Boston International’s innagural event featured Xenia Dormandy, Director of the Belfer Center’s Project on India and the Subcontinent at Harvard KSG.  The event set a high bar for future Boston International events. We listened to a terrific speaker on an interesting topic, and had an impressive turnout of local young professionals and graduate students.

Following the formal interview by David Rice of Strategic Policy Concepts, Boston International members had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Xenia and David at a cocktail reception.
Ms. Dormandy raised some interesting questions during her talk on May 1, including:

• How can we reconcile the seemingly contradictory attitudes of the United States? It claims to support freedom but continues to support and engage with dictators.  Ms. Dormandy contends that the United States is interested in freedom as a long-term policy, but puts security before freedom in the short term.  However, short and long-term policy do not need to conflict.  The United States just needs to hold both as priorities when creating policy and making decisions.
• What does a deal on Kashmir between India and Pakistan look like? In May 2007, there were many rumors that a deal was almost completed between India and Pakistan.  But, it’s not clear what this deal would look like.  One possibility is that is will be similar to the Middle East roadmap, with security on both sides and a soft border.  The question is, when will this happen, and how can both sides engage to create an accepted solution?
• Will the approximately 40% of people that voted in the last election continue to engage with the political process? Ms. Dormandy contends that this depends on two things: first, the parties need to stay together long enough to govern effectively so that the people can see positive impact from their participation in the elections.  This is unlikely; that would be like asking President Bush to govern in coalition with Senator Kerry.  The second is whether the United States through its government or through NGOs spends time and resources helping to build institutions within Pakistan.  These two factors would encourage voters to continue to engage.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on these and other relevant questions related to the future of Pakistan, whether you attended the event or not.  Please leave your comments at the bottom of this webpage.

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About Our Speaker

Xenia Dormandy is the Director of the Belfer Center’s Project on India and the Subcontinent and a member of the Board. Prior to this she was the Executive Director for Research at the Belfer Center. Until August 2005, Ms. Dormandy served as Director for South Asia at the National Security Council (NSC) where she played a key role in coordinating the July 2005 visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that led to the new U.S.-India Strategic Relationship.

Prior to her NSC post, Ms. Dormandy served as a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Bureau of South Asia at the Department of State. Her major portfolios included counterterrorism, nonproliferation, Kashmir, and other law enforcement topics. During her tenure at the Department of State, Ms. Dormandy was also a Special Advisor at the Homeland Security Group, and an officer in the Bureau of Nonproliferation. Shortly after September 11, 2001, Ms. Dormandy was detailed from the Department of State to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to help launch the Office of Homeland Security Affairs.

Ms. Dormandy’s articles and opeds on international security and intrastate conflict issues have been published in a number of publications including The Washington Quarterly, The Washington Post, Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune, and she has been interviewed on radio and television for such programs as the BBC World TV, NPR, Fox News and Al Jazeera.

Prior to her government service, Ms. Dormandy worked in the nonprofit and private sectors in California, Israel and the West Bank, and the U.K., and for UNICEF in New York. She is a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government where she completed her Masters in Public Policy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford University.

Please click here to visit Ms. Dormandy’s page at Harvard’s Belfer Center.

About Our Interviewer

David Rice is the founder and principal of Strategic Policy Concepts, an independent, non-partisan consulting firm specializing in public policy research, analysis and strategy on behalf of think tanks, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and lobbying firms in the U.S. and abroad. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at Suffolk University and Fitchburg State College; an Adjunct Scholar at the Center for American Progress – a think tank in Washington, D.C.; and a Tutor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kirkland House.

Please click here for more on Mr. Rice’s background and his work with Strategic Polic Concepts.

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