Shuja Nawaz, director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, was recently featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation podcast “The Sunday Edition.”

The slow response to the Pakistan floods has been blamed on Pakistan’s so-called “image problem” and that may be true. But on the other side of that coin, many observers have suggested that the disaster presents the west – particularly the U.S. – with the opportunity to make political gains in a strategically-important part of the world where the Americans themselves have the “image problem.” On top of that, inside Pakistan, nearly every side of the fractured poltical and military power structure has an interest in appearing to be one delivering help – and in discrediting opponents. In the podcast, Nawaz provides his take on these issues.

For audio and a text description of the segment featuring Nawaz, please click here.

This highlight is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

Shuja Nawaz, director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, was recently featured on Australian Broadcasting Corporation National Radio. Nawaz discussed the current state of affairs in Pakistan, and the growing controversy over how aid for flood victims is being distributed.

The segment featuring Nawaz can be listened to using the audio player below.

This highlight is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

The current flood in Pakistan is the worst ever-natural disaster to strike that country even as it is fighting an existential threat from a major Taliban insurgency inside its Western border. The grim situation: 20 million homeless, a fifth of the country affected by floodwaters, and a government that was unprepared, despite warnings from its own National Disaster Management Authority.

Introducing a detailed and comprehensive National Disaster Response Plan issued in March 2010, that, among other things, listed the threat of floods during the monsoon season, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani stated “I hope that the guidelines set forth by the N.D.R.P. will be observed by all concerned.” As former Secretary of State George P. Shultz famously remarked, “Hope is not a policy!”

It took almost a week for the both the central government and provincial administrations to begin coping with the rising floods. And government has been playing catch-up ever since. Parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were still waiting for civilian aid three weeks after the flood.

Residents told visitors that provincial government phones were off the hook when they called for help. From Sukkur, in Sindh province, a relief volunteer reports, "Camps need drinking water supply, latrines and food supplies – the very basics, which are somehow missed by our government." This has created an opportunity for the military to step in and for civil society to step up, including the social services arms of Punjabi militant groups, some of whom have been franchisees of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Though their numbers are small and they are restricted to certain inundated districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Central and Southern Punjab, they offer a public relations counterweight to the generous United States aid package and the rapid response of the Pakistan army.

Most Pakistanis have by now heard that the United States is their largest aid donor and is leading the charge to get other “friends of Pakistan,” in Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s words, to “step up to the plate.” The real risk is not that aid will not come. The real risk is that the U.S.’s main partner in Pakistan, the civilian government at the center and in the provinces may fail to deliver effectively and efficiently the aid that does arrive.

If that happens, then the men, women and children who are homeless today and who will be struggling to rebuild their lives in years to come will not be thanking a distant America. They will be cursing their own government. Or worse, joining the militancy that is gnawing at their social fabric.

This must not be allowed to happen. The enormity of the challenge facing a fledgling democratic system in Pakistan is huge. Even while the United States keeps a wary eye on Islamic militant relief groups, it must help in strengthening the civilian governance in Pakistan, its main partner in fighting the effects of this 100-year flood. President Asif Ali Zardari, pronounced at a press conference with Senator John Kerry last week “I am the governance” (shades of Louis XIV). Now that he has owned up to that weighty charge, his government must deliver on his promise by making flood relief rapid, transparent, and effective.

Shuja Nawaz is director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. This critique appears as part of the New York Times’ Room for Debate series entitled "Can Flood Aid Weaken the Taliban in Pakistan?" Photo credit: AP.

This article is part of the Atlantic Council series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

On August 19, the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center hosted a roundtable discussion with a group of Pakistani high school students visiting Washington, DC as part of the 2010 EDLINKS Pakistan-US Student Exchange. Approximately twenty young people met with South Asia Center Director Shuja Nawaz for an informal conversation about a variety of topics relating to the work of the Center. The students, with the support of their chaperones and supervisors from KZO Education, asked questions about the status of US-Pakistan relations, the Kerry-Lugar bill, recent flood relief efforts, and the differing perceptions of Pakistan among the American public.

Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, was interviewed on The Takeaway morning radio news program on the Pakistan flood situation. Nawaz also commented on how the flooding presents the United States with an opportunity to restore shaky relations with Pakistan.

Click here for audio and a text summary of the program.

This highlight is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, appeared on PBS NewsHour on August 18. Nawaz discussed the extreme flooding in Pakistan and its ramifications on stability of the region.

Video of the news segment can be seen below. To find time and channel information for PBS NewsHour in your area, visit http://www.pbs.org/newshour/airdates.html.

Last week an opinion piece written by Nawaz on this subject entitled “Hope Amid Pakistan’s Tragedy” appeared in the Washington Post.

This article is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

On August 14, Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center Director Shuja Nawaz spoke with NPR’s Weekend Edition on the recent torrential flooding in Pakistan, and the opportunity relief efforts offer for improvement in U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Click here to read a transcript of Nawaz’s interview and listen to the audio.

This highlight is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

The fierce flooding in northwest Pakistan is a catastrophe that’s killed more than 1,000 people, left thousands homeless and millions more in desperate need of aid. Does the disaster also create an opportunity for Pakistan and the United States to win hearts and minds with food and assistance? NPR’s Scott Simon talks with Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council.

SCOTT SIMON, host:

The fierce flooding in northwest Pakistan is a catastrophe that’s killed more than 1,000 people, left thousands more homeless and hungry, and millions in desperate need of aid. The floods have struck an area that’s also been a battleground between the government of Pakistan and the Taliban. Does this disaster also create an opportunity for Pakistan and the United States to win hearts and minds with food and assistance?

In an op-ed piece in the Washington Post this week, Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, writes about the chances of building trust in Pakistan. Mr. Nawaz joins us in our studio. Thanks so much for being with us.

Mr. SHUJA NAWAZ (South Asia Center, Atlantic Council): Thank you, Scott.

SIMON: Tell us about what you see as a window of opportunity.

Mr. NAWAZ: Well, first I see the tragedy, which is the worst in Pakistan’s history and the worst since the last 80 years. But I also see an opportunity because the United States and Pakistan have been on and off allies over the years, and there is still a level of distrust between them that is still deep. And perhaps when Pakistanis see the United States actually on the ground helping ordinary people, there will be the grounds for removing this distrust.

SIMON: You write that the sight of U.S. helicopters, which might alarm some people, is now reassuring in Pakistan.

Mr. NAWAZ: Absolutely. And this harkens back to the U.S. assistance during the 2005 earthquake when the same type of helicopters, the Chinooks, were being referred to as angels of mercy. And they see Americans doling out this assistance, standing side by side with Pakistani soldiers. I think that means a lot to the ordinary people.

SIMON: Recent opinion polls have been cited, a lot in both countries, that show almost 60 percent of the Pakistani public considers the U.S. to be some kind of adversary. But in this welter of polls you have noticed another statistic.

Mr. NAWAZ: Yes. Something like 64 percent of the Pakistanis polled by the Pew Global Attitude survey that was released recently indicates that 64 percent of the people polled actually want to improve relations with the United States. I see that as an opportunity. Not just for the United States but for Pakistan too, because Pakistan needs to be a member of the polity of nations, working with states like the United States and other trading partners.

And if it can build on this kind of collaborative arrangement, rather than simply a kind of patron-client relationship, which has been the characteristic in the past, then perhaps there is some hope.

SIMON: Now, we have also read that the Taliban has been trying to be of assistance.

Mr. NAWAZ: Not the Taliban so much as the Panjabi military groups that are allies of the Taliban. They have been very active through their social services groups. They were active in the earthquake zone too, and in fact in many cases worked in the same areas that the U.S. was providing assistance – very ironic.

They have been active, and that’s largely because the government, unfortunately, has been very inept and slow. And when government creates a vacuum, then these groups fill it with social services. So I think this is a warning for the government now that particularly as the aid starts flowing into Pakistan, the government had better get its act together and the government better show its face on a regular basis and not the kind of sporadic hit and run, which government leaders have been doing.

I mean, it was very sad and noticeable that the president of Pakistan was out of the country.

SIMON: He was in London.

Mr. NAWAZ: He was in France and then in the U.K. throughout the period that the flood sort of ravaging his country, came back and went for essentially a photo op into one province in Sinth(ph).

So while these meetings may be important, I think the people would want to see their leaders share their misery in the sense that they can see what the people are going through and see what the government is trying to do to help.

SIMON: Shuja Nawaz is the author of "Pakistan in the Danger Zone: A Tenuous U.S.-Pakistan Relationship." Thanks so much for being with us.

Mr. NAWAZ: My pleasure.

Shuja Nawaz is director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. This is the transcript of a conversation broadcast on NPR Weekend Edition – Saturday. Photo credit: AP.

The audio version of the conversation appears below.

This article is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

The rains that have for the past two weeks caused the worst flooding in northwest Pakistan in eight decades have shifted attention from the country’s battle against insurgency and militancy and the fragility of its relationship with the United States. As the monsoon rains move south, numerous roads, bridges and dams have been damaged. Crops have been destroyed. It is likely that next year’s crops will not be planted. Yet amid all this destruction are reasons for optimism.

Rapid U.S. action to support Pakistan’s relief efforts may help improve America’s image among a population that generally resents the United States. Washington’s $55 million aid pledge makes it the largest donor among the international community. U.S. Chinooks — seen as angels of mercy after the 2005 earthquake — are helping Pakistanis over flood-ravaged mountains and plains, and represent both U.S. ability to help Pakistanis and the Pakistani military’s willingness to work with its U.S. counterparts. This collaboration will go a long way toward building relationships among rank-and-file service members. The head of Pakistan’s air force is visiting the United States this week to see joint air exercises in Nevada. Such encounters will educate people and help both countries dispel false notions about each other.

Although much has been made of the negative findings in the July 29 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll, there are underlying signs of hope. Pew found that 68 percent of Pakistanis view the United States unfavorably and that 59 percent of respondents classify it as an enemy. But little has been said about the 64 percent of Pakistanis who consider it important to improve relations with the United States. This is an opportunity for both countries to increase public understanding. A Gallup poll of U.S. perceptions about 20 nations released in February showed that only 23 percent of Americans viewed Pakistan favorably. But while Americans 55 and older accounted for just 17 percent of the favorable ratings, it was heartening that Americans ages 18 to 34 accounted for 34 percent. There may be an opportunity to connect American and Pakistani youth and help them move past the entrenched narratives that have long driven policy decisions in both countries.

The U.S. and Pakistani narratives of each other’s actions have diverged since Pakistan became a nation 63 years ago. By these tellings, Pakistan has shifted from the "most allied of allies" to a pariah state that was the target of U.S. sanctions. Much has been made of Pakistan’s havens for terrorists; the country has been called a terrorist state in danger of being a failed state. Many in the United States see Pakistanis as duplicitous; they point to President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq lying in the 1980s, when he denied that Pakistan was enriching uranium to build a bomb to keep up with historic rival India. Yet in the Pakistani view, the United States is a fickle ally, in contrast to China, which has been an "all-weather" friend. Pakistanis’ assessment is that Washington believed Zia’s untruth because it needed Pakistan’s support to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan — further proof of Americans favoring transactional, fair-weather relationships.

The Obama administration and Congress have outlined a longer-term aid program under legislation sponsored by Sens. John F. Kerry and Richard Lugar and Rep. Howard Berman. The State Department map of the aid program shows projects all over Pakistan, which will help underscore that the aid is not only for the Afghan border region but is spread throughout the country and is for projects that meet the urgent needs of the people. Indeed, some of the disaster relief is now likely to be funded by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation. But urgent and concentrated U.S. efforts must be made to reassess and restructure that project in light of the floods. The flow of funds must be speeded up. The true test of these plans ultimately will be in Pakistan — in their implementation and in the political actions by its government and opposition parties to come together to help the millions of displaced and homeless flood victims.

To reconstruct damaged homes and infrastructure and help its people recover, Pakistan will require enormous aid — not just from the United States and Europe but also from Muslim nations and its neighbors. Meanwhile, the battle against the homegrown insurgency and militancy that threaten Pakistan’s polity rages on. Even as Washington focuses on leaving Afghanistan, it must not lose sight of Pakistan’s long-term civil and military needs — not just for short-term gain but in an effort to build a lasting relationship. To help change the long-entrenched story, Washington and Islamabad need to display consistent behavior. Trust must be built on mutual understanding and equally beneficial actions.

Shuja Nawaz is director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. This article appears as an editorial in the Aug. 12 edition of The Washington Post. Photo credit: Getty Images.

This article is part of the series Pakistan Floods: Hope from Tragedy. To find a series description and links to related posts, please click here.

On August 6 an editorial written by the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center director, Shuja Nawaz, was published in The Boston Globe. In the editorial entitled “WikiLeaks Aftermath” Nawaz–who recently authored the report “Pakistan in the Danger Zone” for the Council–discusses the ramifications of the war documents posted to the web site WikiLeaks for the war in Afghanistan and overall relations in the region.

To read Nawaz’s editorial, please click here.