IGE in Pakistan

IGE's work in Pakistan focuses on promoting interfaith cooperation in the North-West Frontier Province, and well as research on the changing role of religion and politics in the Pakistani context. 

Top-Down Engagement

Reciprocal Visits. IGE has been involved in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) since 2005, when it invited then-Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani to the United States for discussions regarding political Islam in the Frontier. Since that time, IGE participated in several reciprocal visits to Pakistan, taking part in interfaith conferences, discussions on religion and politics, and academic forums. Through these exchanges, the Institute has sought to promote the values of religious freedom and respectful dialogue, overcome mutual misconceptions, and highlight the obligations of religious leaders to speak out against extremism.

Research on Religion and Politics. IGE's Center on Faith & International Affairs sponsored an innovative research project on political Islam in the Frontier, which resulted in a policy conference and a monograph, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier. Like all of the Center's research, this initiative was based on the conviction that the free exercise of religion, practiced peacefully, can contribute in profoundly positive ways to a stable social and political order; but also that states must take seriously, and deal intelligently, with the social and security implications of religious extremism. This work provided new insights to academics and policymakers interested in the role that religion plays in the politics of northwest Pakistan.

Bottom-Up Engagement

Faith Friends. Through its Center for Relational Diplomacy, IGE has partnered with the Faith Friends group in Peshawar, an interfaith organization consisting of Sunni, Shia, Hindu, Christian, and Sikh leaders from around the NWFP. IGE staff and fellows have been invited to speak at Faith Friends conferences, and to build relationships between religious leaders in Pakistan and the United States.

Global Engagement Fellows Program. In 2006 IGE established a Global Engagement Fellows Program in cooperation with the University of Science and Technology Bannu (USTB), a public university situated near to the North Waziristan tribal agency. This program, which is now funding its second cohort, provides an alternative to extremism by giving scholarships to needy students (including women and students from the tribal areas), and fosters discussion on global affairs and interfaith harmony.

If you have any questions or would like to receive regular updates on our Pakistan Program, contact IGE at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or (703) 527-3100.