Dr. Tahir Amin (b. 13 March 1952, طاہر امین) is a Pakistani political scientist.[1] He is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Previously, he was the Iqbal Chair at the Centre for International Studies,[1] University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (c.1997-2001, succeeding Akbar S. Ahmed, followed by Tahir Kamran). He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988), a Masters in International Relations from Carleton University, Canada (1978), and a M.Sc. in International Relations from Quaid-i-Azam University (1976). He received a King Faisal Scholarship to study at MIT, and a Fulbright Award at Harvard University (1992), where he worked on a research project on “Reactions of the Non-Western world to the Thesis of the Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington.” He was a visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute of International Studies, Brown University, Providence, USA (1996), and at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA) at Harvard University.
Amin is a Member of the Board of Governors at the National Institute of Pakistan Studies, at the National Institute of History Commission, and at the Area Study Center for North America and Africa, all at Quaid-i-Azam University.
His research focuses on questions of world order, Pakistan's foreign relations, domestic politics of Pakistan, Kashmir, terrorism, and the politics of South and Central Asia.
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He is the author of seven books or monographs, including two forthcoming: Theorizing World Orders: An Historical, Hermenutic and Dialectical Approach, co-authored with Hayward R. Alker, Jr., Thomas J. Biersteker, and Takashi Inoguchi (University of Cambridge Press, forthcoming); and the forthcoming “World Orders in Central Asia: Essays in honor of Hayward R. Alker” (Brown University, forthcoming). Published monographs include Mass Resistance in Kashmir: Origins, Evolution, Options (Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies 1995), Nationalism and Internationalism in Liberalism, Marxism and Islam (Islamabad: International Institute of Islamic Thought 1992), Ethno-National Movements of Pakistan: Domestic and International Factors (Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies 1989), Afghanistan Crisis: Implications and Options for Muslim World, Iran and Pakistan (Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies, 1982), and Tashkent Declaration: Third Party’s Role in the Resolution of Conflict (Islamabad: Institute of Strategic Studies, 1980).
He has written more than two dozen peer-reviewed articles or chapters, among them including “Kashmir Question” in The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture Vol. VI: Islam in World Today (Paris: UNESCO, 2012); “1977 Coup D’etat in Pakistan” in Pakistan Journal of History and Culture Vol.XXV111 no2 (July-Dec.2007); “Developments of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: A Case Study on Recognition of Taliban” (Lahore: Pildat, 2004); “The Plebiscite Option in Kashmir: A Reappraisal” in The Kashmir Imbroglio: Looking Towards the Future Islamabad (Islamabad Policy Research Institute, 2005); “Pakistan and the Islamic World Order” in Pakistan After 9/11: The Turn Around (Institute of Strategic Studies and Wolfson College Cambridge, 2005); “Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: An Evaluation”, National Development and Security (Autumn 2003); “Changing Global and Regional Scenario and Pakistan”, National Development and Security (Spring 2003); "Indian Approach towards the Kashmir Dispute", in K.F. Yousaf (ed). Perspectives on Kashmir (Islamabad: 1994); ‘Kargil Crisis in Kashmir’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs (Spring/Summer 2000); "Pakistan and the Central Asian States," in Myron Weiner, et al. The New Geopolitics of Central Asia and its Border Lands (Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1994); "Kashmir," in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam (London: Oxford University Press 1996); "Accommodation Across Cultures: Towards a Peaceful World Order," Strategic Studies (Winter 1996); "Pakistan in 1994: Politics of Confrontation," Asian Survey (February 1995); "Pakistan in 1993: Some Dramatic Changes," Asian Survey (February 1994); "Changing World Order and Pakistan," Strategic Perspectives, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1991); "Moscow’s Kabul Connection: Lesson for Asian Countries," Strategic Studies (Fall 1982); “Two Years of Afghan Resistance” Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. VII, no 1 & 2; "Pakistan-United States Aid Deal: A Pakistan Perspective," Pakistan Journal of American Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 (March 1984); "Iran: Political Economy of an Islamic State," American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (Washington, DC July 1985); and "Afghan Resistance: Past, Present and Future," Asian Survey (April 1984).