The Perils of Peace: Re-Imagining Risk and Reward in South Asia

Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series
Steve Coll
President, New America Foundation
Kirkland & Ellis, LLP
50th Floor Conference Center
601 Lexington Avenue
(formerly known as The Citigroup Center)
New York, New York 10022

Reception – 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Lecture – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

About the Speaker:

Steve Coll is President of New America Foundation, and a contributor to The New Yorker magazine. Previously, he spent twenty years as a foreign correspondent and senior editor at The Washington Post, serving as the paper’s managing editor from 1998 to 2004. He is the author of six books including The Deal of the Century: The Break Up of AT&T (1986);The Taking of Getty Oil (1987); Eagle on the Street, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the SEC’s battle with Wall Street (with David A. Vise, 1991); On the Grand Trunk Road: A Journey into South Asia (1994), Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (2004); and The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century (2008). Mr. Coll’s professional awards include two Pulitzer Prizes.

About the Lecture:

In 2007, the governments of India and Pakistan came close to announcing a historic peace agreement. The possibility of such a settlement will likely reemerge during the next few years. At the same time, America’s drawdown in Afghanistan will likely involve some form of negotiated peace between that country and Pakistan. In a region so long defined by the risks of war and violence, how can we reconceive the risks and rewards of peace in South Asia?

Event Flyer

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.