Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington DC, Distinguished Chair for Middle East Studies at the US Naval Academy, and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. According to the BBC he is the “world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam.” A former high commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, he has advised Prince Charles and met with President George W. Bush on Islam. He has taught at Princeton, Harvard, and Cambridge Universities and is an award winning film and documentary maker.

Ambassador Ahmed is regularly interviewed on major networks including BBC and CNN, and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2005 he was awarded the inaugural Purpose Prize along with Judea Pearl, the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, with whom he tours promoting interfaith dialogue. Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization, his latest book, was published in 2007 by the Brookings Institution Press. He is currently conducting a year long study of Islam in America with a group of young Americans which can be followed at www.journeyintoamerica.wordpress.com

Blog Entries by Akbar Ahmed

Obama Must Heed McChrystal's Plea

4 Comments | Posted October 6, 2009 | 08:34 PM (EST)


General Stanley McChrystal has all but admitted defeat in Afghanistan. Unless he gets an additional 40,000 troops, the game is up. Unusually for a commanding officer in the middle of a war, the US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan has gone public with his thoughts. Equally unusual, he is...

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What is an American?

13 Comments | Posted July 20, 2009 | 08:08 AM (EST)


While grappling with ideas for a book on American identity (Journey into America, Brookings Press, forthcoming) I've been trying to figure out what actually defines an American and would be grateful for any assistance by readers of this column.

The primary definition involves the legal citizenship of the...

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Will My Books in Swat Survive?

7 Comments | Posted May 11, 2009 | 04:42 PM (EST)


Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, P.G. Wodehouse, Fredrick Barth, Ibn Khaldun, and Rumi. These were some of my constant companions through the ups and downs of my life in the civil service of Pakistan. From lonely postings in Waziristan to challenging ones in Baluchistan, I enjoyed the wisdom and humanity of...

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With Obama at the World's "Most Dangerous Place"

Posted March 28, 2009 | 05:01 PM (EST)


Seated a few yards in front of President Obama as his invited guest at the White House on Friday, March 27, I heard him describe the areas I had been in charge of--including Waziristan--as "the most dangerous place in the world."

Obama was laying out what I suspect will...

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Why Obama Must Save Pakistan

Posted March 10, 2009 | 10:58 AM (EST)


With the fall of Swat to the Taliban, the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the killing of the policemen, Pakistan has plunged into a major crisis of confidence. On March 16th, the Muslim League and Jamaat-i-Islami will lead a protest march to Islamabad. If there is bloodshed,...
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