Interview: Adil Najam

It was a pleasant surprise to see that Dr Adil Najam at a conference in Islamabad. Finding a leading expert on diplomacy, international relations and environmental policy in our midst, I made a rather blunt request for an interview to which he laughed and agreed.The next morning, in his cozy Islamabad drawing room sofa next to a fireplace, with a view of his garden on the left and dining room on the right, we discussed politics, environment and America. A public diplomacy and climate change expert with a Sitara-e-Imtiaz and almost every academic accomplishment under his belt, Najam was easy-going for his credentials. 

The News on Sunday: What does the Pakistani community in the US worry most about?

Adil Najam: Pakistanis abroad have the same concerns as Pakistanis here. More than anything else, they worry about the state of things in Pakistan. Sure, they also have lots of immediate concerns especially when things like the Faisal Shehzad case happens, but most of all they worry about Pakistan and its future. Personally, I am most concerned about the blanket of discontent that we Pakistanis have imposed on ourselves. It feels like we have just ‘given up.’ Not only do people think that things are bad, it seems that they have convinced themselves that things can’t ever be better. This pessimism is very detrimental for our national psyche and it is pervasive amongst Pakistanis abroad as much as amongst Pakistanis in Pakistan.

TNS: How has the Pakistani community reacted to the election of Obama administration?

AN: Most of them supported Obama against Bush and most still like him. The big challenge for Pakistanis in America is not the US government, but US society. US society today has less and less trust for Pakistan and that shows up in their attitude towards Pakistanis. Today it is more difficult being a Pakistani in America than being a Muslim in America. Right after 9/11 my friends used to ask "how hard it is being a Muslim in the West," now they ask "how hard is it being a Pakistani abroad."

This is because Pakistan’s reputation and image has been taking a lot of hits. A lot of it may be because of media biases in the West, but ultimately Pakistan’s worst enemy is Pakistanis themselves. No one is more interested in lecturing you on all the things that are ‘wrong’ with Pakistan than Pakistanis themselves. This goes back to the sense of national negativity I was talking about. The media -- in the West as well as in Pakistan -- merely becomes a reflection and barometer of the negativity in the society.

TNS: Do you think the WikiLeaks has harmed the US or Pakistan?

AN: Not really. WikiLeaks has fed the news cycles greatly, but I have not seen anything yet that has been really surprising or earth shattering for either the US or Pakistan. At best, things we already knew have been reconfirmed. What WikiLeaks has changed is the nature of diplomacy.

Diplomats will now be much more careful, much more hesitant about what they say or write in their memos. Things they used to say quietly will now be said in whispers; things that used to be whispered will not be said at all. The implication is that even though the purpose of WikiLeaks was to give more transparency, the final result will be less transparency: because diplomats will become more careful, even paranoid, about what they put to paper.

TNS: In your opinion, can the US withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014?

AN: Wake me when that happens. Right now what we have is slogans meant for US domestic politics. What does ‘withdrawal’ really mean? What will it really look like? Too early to say anything on this, but I am not holding my breath. Right now these slogans have more to do with point-scoring in US domestic politics rather than real international relations.

TNS: Has the US role in Pakistan improved since Obama’s arrival?

AN: Unfortunately not. In some ways -- for example in the number of drone attacks -- it has progressively grown worse. What is truly sad is that the US has started giving up on Pakistan and Pakistan has started giving up on the US. Right now, the situation is similar to when a relationship is about to break and a divorce is about to happen; both the parties try hard to make mends, but nothing works. This is sad because both the countries need each other and could truly benefit from a strong relationship. No one in Pakistan really trusts the US just as no one in the US really trusts Pakistan.

TNS: If you could give one foreign policy advice to Pakistan, what would it be?

AN: I wish it was that simple. But two words would help: "self-confidence". In practice, this will mean at least three things. First, make our foreign policy multi-polar. Unfortunately, we have moved from an India-centric foreign policy to a US-centric foreign policy. Second, give foreign policy back to the Foreign Office. Because our foreign policy tends to be run by the military, it tends to focus only on defence and security. Those are, of course, very real concerns for Pakistan, but they are not our only concerns. Finally, also look at foreign policy from a human security and economic development lens. View foreign policy not only as an instrument to make our borders ‘secure’ but also as a means to make the lives and livelihoods of our people ‘secure.’

TNS: Coming to the environment, do you think capitalist economies allow environmentalism?

AN: Capitalism is not what we thought it was and environmentalism is not what we think it is. Especially after the recent financial crisis, it is clear that cowboy capitalism does not work. But that does not mean the system is about to die. Capitalism has changed, and so has environmentalism.

The challenge is to identify policies that can control the excesses and externalities of blind capitalism while using the power of markets and economic drivers to meet environmental (and developmental) goals. The two have to happen simultaneously. The issue is not if environmentalism can survive with capitalism but if environmentalism has learnt to live with development. We have to learn to look at the environment not just as a ‘cute and cuddly’ issue, but as an issue of water, of health, of food production, of disease prevention, and so on.

TNS: Has environmental policy in Pakistan improved?

AN: I started working on environment policy in Pakistan some 20 years ago. If I look back, I realise that we have not achieved as much as we had hoped to achieve but also that we have probably done more than we give ourselves credit for. The National Conservation Strategy (NCS) was a landmark. So were the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). Environmental education has increased. So has environmental awareness. The media writes about these issues. Conferences, seminars and meetings are being held nearly every week.

TNS: Was there a connection between the recent Pakistani floods and climate change?

AN: One cannot conclude that the climate was solely responsible, but the possibility that climate change might have been one of the many factors that created the conditions leading to the scale of these floods cannot be ruled out. I am not trying to hedge. The fact is that science is not willing to give us the simple black and white answers that journalists demand. What we do know is that climate change adds layers of variation and variability to weather systems and extreme events -- including floods -- are likely to become more frequent as well as more intense. Smart societies are beginning to prepare for those possibilities.

TNS: What suggestions do you have for Pakistan to battle climate change?

AN: Best policies for Pakistan to combat climate change are the exact same policies needed for Pakistan’s development. For countries like Pakistan, development -- not just economic growth -- is the best defence against climate change because it increases the resilience of the poor to deal with the impacts of climate change. This means we should focus on issues like energy, water, health etc. in the context of climate change.

When I speak of development I am looking at social equity, distribution and access to wealth and poverty. All over the world, and especially in Pakistan, climate change will hit the poor first, will hit the poor hardest and will hit the poor most disproportionately. It is the poor that we need to focus our attention on.

TNS: If you could attribute your success to one thing, what would it be?

AN: The education that I got in Pakistan. I do not mean to sound cheesy, but that is the truth. I had great teachers and got a great education in Pakistan. I studied in government schools all over the country, then at the Islamabad College for Boys (ICB) and then at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. I got an education that has served me well in the best institutions in the world.

As with everything else, we need to start by recognising and celebrating that which works -- especially our teachers -- and then build upon that.

This interview was first published in The News in January 2011.