Neighbourhood 'Adoption of non-adventurous foreign policy will lead to peace'

The adoption of a low-risk and non-adventurous foreign policy would lead to peace in the neighbourhood and ensure that resources are allocated towards economic development. Ambassador Javid Husain, author of "Pakistan and a World in Disorder: A Grand Strategy for the 21st Century", said this on Wednesday at the occasion of launching ceremony of his book.
The Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI), organised launch of the book, which is published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book talked about how his proposed approach requires synthesis of Pakistan's political, economic, diplomatic and security policies into one grand strategy which, he said, would be a marked departure from the prevalent unidimensional strategy.
Husain also noted that this approach would require different institutions to integrate and create institutional frameworks and stressed on the importance of economic development for ensuring long-term security.
The book describes the role that Pakistan should play in the largely chaotic world of the 21st century in order to best serve the country's long-term national interests. Its main aim is to lay down the parameters within which Pakistan's grand strategy should be formulated, taking into account the evolving global and regional security environment and Pakistan's historical experience. The book launch was attended by foreign diplomats, scholars, journalists and students.
Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman of the Board of Governors ISSI, introduced the author and applauded the comprehensive overview of the challenges facing Pakistan in the contemporary context citing that the book is of immense regional, global and strategic significance and provides an in-depth analysis and critical evaluation of the past record of Pakistan's foreign policy and highlights its successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses.
Ambassador Riaz H Khokhar, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan praised the efforts of the author and said that this book makes a significant addition to the existing knowledge about Pakistan's foreign policy. He cited the book as timely and relevant. He praised the author's pragmatic and objective approach in pointing out the flaws in Pakistan's foreign policy and stated that the 'grand national strategy' recipe recommended by the author is important because there is a significant relationship between internal and external policies of a country which requires clarity and strong will on part of the Pakistani leadership.
Ambassador Riaz M Khan lauded the extensive research by the author and said that this book breaks new ground by providing officials, researchers, scholars and students with new insights. He stated that it is a veritable lift to all those interested in understanding Pakistan's foreign policy because it covers Pakistan's challenges and frames a road map all the while highlighting all aspects of relevance and importance. He said that the book offers substantive data and applauded the author's judicious, forthright evaluation.
Ambassador M Akram Zaki, former Secretary General Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the chapter on regional co-operation and how it has demonstrated a clear contrast between success of regionalism in Europe and South Asia and agreed that the ECO could be used as a strong regional platform for economic integration.