Akbar Ahmed - Global Experts

Former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK

December 7th, 2010

Area of Expertise: Migration and Integration, Religion, Terrorism, War and Conflict, Women's Rights
Geographical Expertise - Region: Asia, North Africa and Middle East, North America
Languages: English, French, Pashto, Urdu
Field of Work: Academia, Author/Novelist, Government
City: Washington DC
Country: USA
Continent: North America

Email: akbar.ahmed@theglobalexperts.org

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington DC, is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He has advised Prince Charles and been consulted on the subject of Islam by numerous leaders including President George W. Bush, General David Petraeus and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. He is described as “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” by the BBC.

Dr. Ahmed was appointed in September 2008 as the first Distinguished Chair for Middle East/Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, in addition to the Ibn Khaldun Chair at American University. From Fall 2009 onwards he was appointed Distinguished Visiting Affiliate at the US Naval Academy and he has been Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution for several years.

He is regularly interviewed by CNN, NPR BBC, and Fox News, and has appeared several times on Oprah. He is the author of over a dozen award-winning books, including Discovering Islam, which was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called ‘Living Islam.’ His critically acclaimed book Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization, has resulted in a full length documentary, Journey into America, shown at several film festivals and the book, Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam (Brookings Press, July 2010).

Tags: Akbar Ahmed, featured, Islam, Pakistan