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Moeed W. Yusuf is the Vice Chancellor of Beaconhouse National University, Pakistan’s first not-for-profit liberal arts university. He is one of the youngest individuals to have headed a university in Pakistan. He is concurrently a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

Dr. Yusuf previously served as National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Prime Minister of Pakistan with the rank of Federal Minister. He was Pakistan's youngest NSA and is credited with leading the process of formulating the country's first-ever National Security Policy. As NSA, Yusuf was responsible for advising the Pakistani leadership on all aspects of national security and was engaged in conducting national security dialogues with counterparts around the world.

Before his stint in government, Yusuf spent several years in the United States in the field of policy research and teaching. He was the associate Vice President of the Asia center at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC. Before joining USIP, Yusuf was a fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center, Boston University, and concurrently a research fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at Harvard Kennedy School. He has also worked at the Brookings Institution. In 2007, he co-founded Strategic and Economic Policy Research, a private sector consultancy firm in Pakistan.

Yusuf has consulted for the United Nations Development Program, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank, among other prestigious institutions. He also has international private sector advisory and consulting experience. He has served on multiple Boards and Advisory Committees of Pakistani and international organizations. Yusuf has taught political science at Boston University and George Washington University, USA, and at Lahore University of Management Sciences and Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan.

He has published widely in national and international journals, professional publications and magazines. His latest book, Brokering Peace in Nuclear Environments: U.S. Crisis Management in South Asia, was released by Stanford University Press in May, 2018. His previous books include South Asia 2060: Envisioning Regional Futures (co-edit) and Getting it Right in Afghanistan (co-edit), Pakistan's Counter-terrorism Challenge (ed.) and Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Asia: From a Peacebuilding Lens (ed.). As a public intellectual, Dr. Yusuf has contributed to Pakistani and international press and media for several years, and is a widely recognized commentator in his areas of expertise.

As a public intellectual, Dr. Yusuf has contributed to Pakistani and international press and media for several years, and is a widely recognized commentator in his areas of expertise.

He holds a Masters in International Relations and PhD in Political Science from Boston University.

Functional Expertise: governance; security studies; counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency; economic diplomacy; regional connectivity; geo-politics of energy.

Regional Expertise: South Asia; India-Pakistan relations; Afghanistan conflict; connectivity between South and Central Asia; China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; U.S. foreign policy in South Asia and the Asia pacific.

SKILLSET

  • Political Science scholar and researcher

  • Teaching: political science; international relations; peacebuilding and conflict resolution; political economy; public policy making

  • Strategic and Economic Consulting

  • Advising public, private and not-for-profit organizations on strategic, economic and political issues

  • Institutional development and leadership of think tanks and policy research institutions

  • Media commentary and analysis

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