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Portrait of Madiha Afzal, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy.
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Madiha Afzal

Fellow – Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Center for Asia Policy Studies
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Madiha Afzal is a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She was previously the David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Foreign Policy program. Her work focuses on the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, Pakistan’s politics and policy, and extremism in South Asia and beyond. She previously worked as an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Afzal is the author of “Pakistan Under Siege: Extremism, Society, and the State,” published by the Brookings Institution Press in 2018 (the book was also published in South Asia and Afghanistan by Penguin India). Afzal has also published several journal articles, book chapters, policy reports, and essays. In addition, she writes for publications including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, Dawn, and Newsweek. She is regularly interviewed by media outlets including BBC, NPR, and PBS. In addition, she has consulted for international organizations including the World Bank and UK’s Department for International Development. For her writing on education in Pakistan, she was named to Lo Spazio della Politica’s list of “Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2013.” Afzal received her doctorate in economics from Yale University in 2008, specializing in development economics and political economy.

Affiliations:

  • Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP), fellow
  • Institute for Economic and Development Alternatives, Pakistan (IDEAS), fellow

  • Past Positions

    • David M. Rubenstein Fellow, Foreign Policy Program, The Brookings Institution
    • Visiting Fellow, Foreign Policy Program, Global Economy and Development Program, The Brookings Institution
    • Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
    • Nonresident Fellow, The Brookings Institution
    • Consultant, The World Bank
    • Research Fellow, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland
    • Adjunct Professor, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
    • Visiting Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

  • Education

    • Ph.D., Economics, Yale University
    • M.Phil., Economics, Yale University
    • M.A., Economics, Yale University
    • B.Sc. (Honors), Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Media and Appearances

Deutsche Welle June 6, 2024

From Pakistan’s perspective, one question will be whether Modi, who engaged in anti-Pakistan rhetoric in the election campaign, doubles down on it or backs away from it.

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Vox January 19, 2024

[In Pakistan, where the upcoming national elections have triggered division and unrest, Iran’s strikes] united an otherwise politically polarized country in anger. [And, given that..."
The Guardian October 26, 2023

[On Nawaz Sharif, who is Pakistan’s longest serving prime minister over his three separate terms, and was removed from power in 2017] It appears that we are in another pendulum swing of..."
Bloomberg May 26, 2023

If this is history repeating itself with the military’s assertiveness, it’s not looking good for Imran Khan, his party, or for Pakistan’s democracy.
Axios May 11, 2023

[The military’s] veneer of invincibility [has been cracked in the last 48 hours. But the army warned Wednesday that further attacks would be] severely retaliated against. It is still..."
Deutsche Welle May 10, 2023

Khan’s arrest by paramilitary forces – and the manner of the arrest, with dozens of forces in riot gear – is not about any corruption case against Khan, as was the pretext for the..."
New York Times May 10, 2023

It’s hard to see how the situation de-escalates from here. Khan’s popular support has protected him against the establishment’s assertiveness until now. But now that the establishment..."
Vox May 9, 2023

[Regarding fears that the political unrest in Pakistan could lead to a dramatic, anti-democratic intervention, such as a military coup,] it’s hard to see how the political situation..."
New York Times May 9, 2023

[Imran Khan’s arrest is] about Khan crossing the military’s ‘red line’ with his recent comments against officials in the military and intelligence services. It is about Khan’s..."
Deutsche Welle March 31, 2023

[The clashes between institutions in Pakistan is expected to escalate, with judiciary, politics and constitutional crises becoming immersed with the financial breakdown.] I see the..."

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