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Owen Bennett-Jones

Writer on Pakistan with world-respected knowledge of the country's militants, military, intelligence services, ethnic groups and political parties, including the MQM. He has worked for the BBC and was a visiting Professor at Princeton University and USC

Name
Owen Bennett-Jones
Occupation
Writer on Pakistan.
Expertise

An Expert on Pakistan’s intelligence services, police, jihadi groups, honour-based violence, blasphemy issues and the country’s politics more generally. The Expert has been working on Pakistan since 1998 and is a regular visitor to the country. He has exceptional contacts in the country and has interviewed all the key political military leaders of the last 20 years. Pakistan: Eye of the Storm, published by Yale University Press and now in its third edition, is a standard text for diplomats and scholars. As well as many BBC articles, the expert has written a number of essays for the London Review of Books that have broken new ground on Pakistan.  

The Expert can verify Pakistani documents including FIR’s, fatwas, legal letters etc.  

The Expert has lectured on Pakistan at leading British and American universities. He is considered one of the few people in London who has on the ground knowledge of the intelligence agencies and their links with violent jihadists but also has knowledge of other issues in Pakistani society. He has given seminars run by Kings College, London University and SOAS attended by British government officials seeking better to understand Pakistan. He has been a consultant on the tribal belt for UNDP.

Experience

The Expert has produced over 60 expert reports including one for Michael Ferguson of the Cardinal Hume Centre which drew on his knowledge of the Pakistani intelligence services. He has written reports for US courts. Issues have included land disputes, honour-based violence, sexuality, the MQM, the TLP and threats from the Taliban and the state. The Expert has also verified documents from Pakistan for UK proceedings. He has interviewed serving members of IS, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the SSP and other Pakistani militant groups. 

Publications

‘Pakistan: Eye of the Storm’.  Yale University Press.  3 editions: 2002, 2003, 2010

‘On the Verge: Pakistan’s Insecurity’. The RUSI Journal. Volume 155, Issue 1, 2010

‘US Policy Options Towards Pakistan’. Stanley Foundation. February 2008

‘Musharraf’s Kashmir Policy’. Asian Affairs. Volume 38, No 3, November 2007

‘Pakistan's Foreign Policy Under Musharraf: Between a Rock and a Hard Place’, co-authored with Farzana Sheikh. Chatham House Briefing Paper, July 2007

And the following in the London Review of Books:

Islamic State v Al Qaeda - 3 November 2016

The Overlooked: The Deobandis - 8 September 2016

The Military and the Mullahs - 3 March 2016

‘We and Your: Suburban Jihadis’ - 27 August 2015

When Jihadis Win Power · 4 December 2014

Across the Durand Line - 25 September 2014

How should we think about the Caliphate 17 July 2014

Bunches of Guys: Just the Right Amount of Violence - 19 December 2013  

Questions Concerning the Murder of Benazir Bhutto - 6 December 2012

The Bhutto Dynasty Yale University Press. 2020 

Ethnic groups expertise
The expert is familiar with issues concerning all the main ethnic groups in Pakistan: Pakhtuns. Punjabis, Sindhis, Baloch, Mohajir etc. He has done a lot of work on the MQM and the Deobandi movement.
Political groups expertise
The Expert has met the leaders of all the main political parties and reported on politics form the grass roots up to the elite level politicians.
Religious groups expertise
All the Jihadi groups both Shia and Sunni. Ahmedis, Christians. The Expert is familiar with issues surrounding blasphemy cases.
Other social groups expertise
The Expert has a detailed understanding of the discrimination people face on grounds of sexuality, gender and class.
Fees
[Private to EIN members]
Contact email
Phone
[Private to EIN members]
Address
[Private to EIN members]