AU holds webinar on post-US election scenarios

Islamabad : Faculty of Aerospace Sciences and Strategic Studies (FASSS) at Air University, organised an international webinar on 'Post US Elections: Forecasting Global and Regional Security Environment.'

The event was chaired by Air Marshal (r) Javaid Ahmed, vice chancellor, Air University and moderated by Dr. Adil Sultan, acting dean and HoD, Faculty of Aerospace Sciences and Strategic Studies.

Dr Rabia Akhtar, director of Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR) sharing her views on the future of Pak-US relations stated that the main competition between the US and China would be in the South China Sea and South Asia is unlikely to be the epicenter of the new Cold War between the two global powers.

Elizebath Threlkeld from the Stimson Center, Washington D.C., while speaking on the future of the Afghan peace process stated that under the new US Administration there may be a change in tone but not in the substance. The President-Elect Joe Biden's Administration would have to convince the Afghan groups that US is withdrawing from the region.

Dr. Nazir Hussain, dean of Social Sciences Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad offered his views on the future of Middle-East and Iran's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He said that there is unlikely to be a drastic change in the US policies towards the region, but there is a likelihood of a renegotiation of the Iran nuclear deal. Brigadier (r) Feroz Hassan Khan from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, US shared his perspective on the future of arms control as the issue is likely to gain more traction under the Biden's Administration.

The Chair of the session Air Marshal (r) Javaid Ahmed in his concluding remarks thanked the panelists and the participants for sharing different perspectives that were important to forecast the regional and global security environment with the change in US administration in Washington, D.C. He also highlighted the need to strengthen US-Pakistan relationships and explore new opportunities, especially in the field of education where new partnerships could be reconnoitered.