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Wilson Center Awards Pakistan Scholarship

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Fellowship Fund for Pakistan are pleased to announce the 2009-10 competition for the Wilson Center's Pakistan Scholar Program. One Pakistan Scholar, either from Pakistan or of Pakistani origin, will be selected each year. Successful applicants will spend 9 months in residence at the Woodrow Wilson Center, in the heart of Washington, D.C., where they will carry out advanced, policy-oriented research and writing. This scholar program is made possible by generous financial support provided by the Fellowship Fund for Pakistan (FFFP), a charitable trust based in Karachi.

WASHINGTON -- The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in collaboration with the Fellowship Fund for Pakistan (FFFP), a charitable trust based in Karachi, today announced the appointment of Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan as the Wilson Center's new Pakistan scholar. Khan will spend eight months in residence at the Wilson Center, beginning in January 2009, carrying out research and writing on a book project looking at the impact on Pakistan of the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as the broader regional and international implications of that conflict.

Ambassador Khan retired from the Pakistani diplomatic service earlier this year after an extraordinarily distinguished career, culminating in his serving as foreign secretary for more than three years (2005-08). Earlier in his career, Khan served as his country's ambassador to China (2002-05), to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg (1995-98), and to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (1992-95). He is the author of Untying the Afghan Knot: Negotiating Soviet Withdrawal (Duke University Press, 1991), written while he was a Diplomat in Residence at Georgetown University.

Khan succeeds Dr. Samia Altaf, the Wilson Center's 2007-08 Pakistan Scholar, who during her stay at the Center worked on a project titled Improving Aid Effectiveness: A Case Study of the Health and Population Sectors in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Scholar Program is the centerpoint of the Wilson Center's Pakistan initiative. The fellowship competition is open to men and women from Pakistan or of Pakistani-origin. Applications are accepted from individuals in academia, business, journalism, government, law, and related professions. Candidates must be currently pursuing research on key public policy issues facing Pakistan, research designed to bridge the gap between the academic and the policymaking worlds. The selection process is a two-tier process, consisting of application evaluation and personal interviews conducted by an independent, international Advisory Council of the FFFP, composed of eminent individuals from the fields of politics, diplomacy, business, economics, academia, and journalism, and followed by final selection by a Wilson Center selection panel.

The Fellowship Fund for Pakistan was established in 2003 to provide Pakistan's most eminent thinkers with opportunities to participate in international deliberations on current and future issues facing Pakistan through dialogue with global opinion leaders and policymakers, scholars, and other experts. FFFP seeks to promote non-partisan scholarship at international forums in order to encourage free, informed and serious dialogue on issues of public interest to Pakistan and the United States.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds and engaged in the study of national and world affairs.

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