Crescent Valley graduate a grad student at Johns Hopkins

By Carol Reeves

Corvallis Gazette-Times

As a Crescent Valley High School student in the late 1990s, all Josh White knew about Pakistan was that it was somewhere near India. Now he’s an expert on the people, culture and politics of this key nation, and decision makers in Washington, D.C., often ask the 29-year-old to share his knowledge.

And he hasn’t yet completed post-graduate work.

White is on track to graduate in May with a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Baltimore. In nearby Washington, he already has briefed officials at the National Security Council and Pentagon.

State Department personnel recruited White to serve as a member of the U.S.-sponsored observer delegation that monitored Pakistan’s parliamentary elections on Feb. 18.

“It was really exciting to be a part of the election delegation,” White said from Washington recently. “When you see 40 percent of the people turning out to vote — even when they know bombs could go off at polling stations or they might face government opposition — that’s a pretty strong statement that Pakistanis want something different. We were all impressed with the eagerness of the people to be heard.”

As a research fellow with the Council on Faith and International Affairs, White especially is interested in studying the role of religion in Pakistan’s politics. He’s spent considerable time in the Northwest Frontier Province on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He believes that America needs to broaden its foreign policy approach in Pakistan and not ignore the influence of religious leaders there.

White will speak on Tuesday at Corvallis’ First Presbyterian Church on the changing political environment in Pakistan after the recent elections. He also will discuss Islamic trends in south Asia and the myths and realities of religious politics in Pakistan.

“Pakistan is in many ways a remarkable country. It is so much more than the simplistic picture we see on CNN,” White said.

The United States has had a troubled relationship with Pakistan for a variety of reasons, according to White. Public opinion and fewer than 15 percent of Pakistanis polled approve of President Pervez Musharraf, he said.

“And yet, President Bush has seemed oddly insistent on betting on what’s essentially a dead horse,” White said. His own research has convinced White that Washington needs to do a better job of reaching past Musharraf to connect with the broader political spectrum in Pakistan.

“The United States has done a very poor job the last five years interacting with religious parties and opposition leaders in Pakistan. We’ve had a very narrow approach, and Pakistanis feel that and know that. America has done far too much talking and not enough listening in Pakistan,” White said.

For all of the strengths of American politics and foreign relations, talking with people we disagree with is not among them, White said.

“But if we don’t learn to broaden our approach, we will alienate the Pakistani people. They like Americans, but not America. And while that kind of anti-American feeling doesn’t necessarily make people turn toward militancy, it can contribute to it.”

Although religious parties can sometimes bring negative policies to the table, they can also be a useful way of engaging people — especially young people — in politics rather than building bombs, he said.

Despite his criticisms, White is hopeful. He finds it encouraging that U.S. policy makers are more interested in learning how to interact with conservative Islamic leaders, even when it’s uncomfortable.

White will spend another summer in Pakistan, and then he hopes to return to Johns Hopkins in the fall to pursue a doctorate in international relations. His goal is to work with American policy makers and continue his field research to better understand how religion and politics influence each other.

“I’d like to see Americans interact with the Muslim world both constructively and respectfully,” White said.

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