WASHINGTON — The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in collaboration with the Fellowship Fund for Pakistan (FFFP), today announced the appointment of Dr. Simbal Khan as the Wilson Center’s new Pakistan Scholar. Khan will spend nine months in residence at the Wilson Center beginning September 10, 2012, working on a book on U.S.-Pakistan security relations since 2001.

Khan is director for Afghanistan and Central Asia at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, a position she has held since 2008. Much of her recent work has focused on U.S./NATO military strategy in Afghanistan and its impact on Pakistan’s security. Her articles have appeared in China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly (U.S.), Eurasia Critic (Turkey), Strategic Studies (Pakistan), and elsewhere. She is also a regular radio and television commentator on Afghanistan and other foreign policy/national security issues. She holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.

Khan will succeed Zahid Hussain, the Wilson Center’s 2011-12 Pakistan Scholar. During his stay at the Center, Hussain worked on a book looking at Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and regional security.

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, a charitable trust based in Karachi, 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.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson, created 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.