Introduction

Dr Ayesha Siddiqa is an author and independent research scholar and is one of the leading names in South Asia working on civil-military relations, defence economics, Pakistan’s armed forces, and political Islam. From November 2016 to August 2021, she was a research associate with the South Asia Institute and Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Previously, she was the Charles Wallace Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, the inaugural Pakistan fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars, Washington DC, a senior research scholar at the Cooperative Monitoring Centre, Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico and a Ford Fellow at the Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Germany. She has taught at Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania and Quaid-e-Azam University. She was also recipient of several research awards, including the Mahboobulhaq Research Award.

Before entering academics, Dr Siddiqa was a civil servant with the Pakistan government serving in various positions in military finance. She was the first female and civilian to serve as the Director of Naval Research with the Pakistan Navy.

Dr Siddiqa’s most recent publications include an updated (second edition) of her book, Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy (Pluto Press, 2017) and a book chapter ‘Balancing Power’ in an edited volume by Sanjaya Baru and A New Cold War. Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China, HarperCollins, 2021. She writes a regular column for The Print and has contributed regularly to public debate in newspapers and journals around South Asia and Europe. Dr Siddiqa has a Master’s degree in Political Science from Punjab University, Lahore and a PhD in War Studies from King’s College, London.

She is currently working on her third book on socio-politics of extremism and militancy in South Asia and its links with West Asia. Two of her other ongoing research projects include studying India-Pakistan competition in Saudi Arabia, and religious networks, military and democracy in Pakistan.

Areas of Interest and Expertise

• Defence Economics
• Military Organisations and Culture
• Civil-Military Relations
• Political Islam