Biography

Raheem has been with the CPPG since 2008 and considers institution building, teaching and research as key to his work at the Centre. He has been part of the team to initiate CPPG’s Quarterly Research & News journal, the Executive MA program and the MPhil program in Public Policy, and is currently working with faculty and students to transform the Quarterly into a student led magazine.  

Raheem has a diverse academic and professional background, and a strong interest in active citizenship and community development, which drives his approach towards public policy. He has a bachelors in engineering followed by a decade long experience in information technology, business analysis and project management primarily focusing on developing management information systems in various industry verticals. This was supplemented by a master’s degree in public policy focusing on social change and development. He has also been practically involved with various civil society initiatives focusing on youth, peace and culture: he has served as the General Secretary of the Institute for Peace & Secular Studies for a few years; is a member of the Awami Art Collective focused on public art projects; delves into organic farming; and has run citizens campaigns on Orange Metro Train Project and Enforced Disappearances. 

His research interests include youth employability and informal sector along with a more practical interest in the use of technology for development and governance. He has been working on a monograph on Youth Employability since 2019, and is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the CPPG with the intent to explore linkages between informal economy and governance. 

CV

 

Education

PhD Scholar at the CPPG

Masters in International Public Policy, SAIS, Johns Hopkins, 2016

BS Computer & Electrical Engineering, Purdue University, 1994

Projects 

 

Research Areas

Informal Sector

Employability 

Youth Policy

Industrial Development 

Political Economy 

 

Courses Taught 

Informal Economy & Urban Development

Political Economy of Public Policy 

Political Institutions & Policy Process

Analyzing & Communicating Public Policy

Local Government & Community Development

Provide Title & Links to the following:

Publications (external)

Can Civil Resistance Lead To Deepening of Democracy in Pakistan: The Case of the PDM (Lahore: Pakistan Monthly Review, 2021); https://pakistanmonthlyreview.com/can-pdm-lead-to-deepening-of-democracy-in-pakistan/

Can Pakistan Have a De-radicalised Future? in Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st Century Perspective (Lahore: Folio Books, 2019); https://foliobooks.pk/book-store/folio-books/rethinking-pakistan/

Youth Radicalization in Pakistan (Washington DC: USIP, 2013); https://www.usip.org/publications/2014/02/youth-radicalization-pakistan

Pakistan, Afghanistan & US Relations: Implications and Future Directions co-authored with Saeed Shafqat (Lahore: Centre for Public Policy and Governance, 2011), 

Rickshaw & Environmental Pollution: Assessing Punjab Government’s Rickshaw Policy ((Lahore: Centre for Public Policy and Governance, 2009) 

Training Needs Assessment of Master’s Level Policy Programs in Pakistan (2009). 

Quarterly Research & News since 2008  

Energy Crises & Policy (2014) 

Institutional Arrangements for Post Disaster Recovery (2010) 

Agriculture Policy Implementation (2010). 

South Africa Story – An Unfinished Revolution (2019). 

 

Blog Posts

The Soul Searches of Corona Pandemic (2020); https://www.scribd.com/document/492739212/The-Soul-Searches-of-Corona

 

Opinion Pieces

Politics

Can Pakistan Win Peace in Afghanistan (2021); https://www.thefridaytimes.com/spotlight-can-pakistan-win-peace-in-afghanistan/

The democracy debate, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/563694-democracy-debate

The issueless Elections, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/565831-issueless-elections

Making of a National Movement, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/565237-making-national-movement

The roots of terrorism, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/563424-roots-terrorism

A reoriented Pakistani State, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/559352-reoriented-pakistani-state

Understanding Disappearances, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/564763-understanding-disappearances

Why media is failing democracy, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/563903-media-failing-democracy

 

Socio-cultural Development 

The Shamelessness of Mediocrity (2019), https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/567950-shamelessness-mediocrity

The making of a beggar nation, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/567391-making-beggar-nation

A Question of Ethics, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/567563-question-ethics

Omni Basant, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/566923-omni-basant

‘Safe’ Basant? Why not, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/561773-safe-basant

Illiteracy and development, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/566306-illiteracy-development

Policy for the Majority, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/566191-policy-majority

The structural nature of extremism, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/563512-structural-nature-extremism

Punjabi and the making of ignorance, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/562109-punjabi-making-ignorance

The Development Narrative, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/560773-development-narrative

The marginality of progressives, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/556312-marginality-of-pakistani-progressives

 

Religion

Qurbani in the age of Institutions, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/564026-qurbani-age-institutions

Political versus Theological, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/561332-political-vs-theological

When Islam Goes To University, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/559487-when-islam-goes-university

Evolution of Our Religious Culture, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/559089-evolution-of-religious-and-culture