Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa (Urdu: عائشہ صدیقہ) (b. April 7, 1966) is a civilian military analyst and political commentator from Pakistan. She is also a regular op-ed contributor to Dawn News Papers, and before that to Daily Times. Her articles appear every Friday. She previously served as professor of Military Science at the John Hopkins University.
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Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Agha did her doctorate from King's College London in 1996 and has worked on issues varying from military technology, defense decision-making, nuclear deterrence, arms procurement, arms production to civil-military relations in South asia.
Dr Siddiqa has been a civil servant for 11 years during which she was asked to work as the Director of Naval Research with Pakistan Navy making her the first civilian and a woman to work at that position in Pakistans defense establishment. She also worked as a Deputy Director in audit Defence Services Lahore Cantt. [1]
She was the 'Pakistan Scholar' at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at Washington, DC for 2004-05.
Dr. Siddiqa is also an author, and her books include, Pakistan's Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99: In Search of a Policy (Palgrave Press, 2001). Her recent book, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy,[2] was released in April 2007.
On June 13, 2007, during her latest book launch at International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Siddiqa said that she is not a politician and hers is an academic piece of work. She went on to add that she used Pakistan as a case study. She believes that this book is not a political thriller, rather it carries a broader issue of civil-military relationship in Pakistan. She is a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (South Asia Studies Program), teaching Pakistan's political economy and the history of Pakistan.
1.Response to the announcement by Pakistan's army high command that it is to cut 50,000 troops:
"It will only reduce the personal staff of army officers and the money saved from these cuts will probably be spent on more weapons. So in effect I do not consider these changes as major strategic move"[3]
2.Response when asked about Pakistans commitment to stop helping Kashmiri militants:
"I question whether there is an intent to completely disband them, because how else do you talk to India?"[4]