C. Christine Fair

Carol Christine Fair (born 1968) is an associate professor at the Center for Peace and Security Studies (CPASS), within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Academic and professional

Fair is employed at the Security Studies Program (SSP) within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.^[1][2]

Prior to this, Fair served as a senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation, political officer with the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan and as a senior research associate with the United States Institute of Peace. She specializes in political and military affairs in South Asia.^[3]

Views

Fair has published several articles defending the use of drone strikes in Pakistan and has been critical of analyses by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other humanitarian organizations.^[4]

Criticism

Fair's work and viewpoints have been the subject of prominent criticism.^[5] Her pro-drone stance has been denounced, and called "surprisingly weak" by Brookings Institution senior fellow Shadi Hamid.^[5] Journalist Glenn Greenwald dismissed Fair's arguments as "rank propaganda", arguing there is "mountains of evidence" showing drones are counterproductive, pointing to mass civilian casualties and independent studies.^[6] In 2010, Fair denied the notion that drones caused any civilian deaths, alleging Pakistani media reports were responsible for creating this perception.^[7] Jeremy Scahill wrote that Fair's statement was "simply false" and contradicted by New America's detailed study on drone casualties.^[7] Fair later said that casualties are caused by the UAVs, but maintains they are the most effective tool for fighting terrorism.^[8]

Writing for The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf challenged Fair's co-authored narrative that the U.S. could legitimize support in Pakistan for its drone program using 'education' and 'public diplomacy'; he called it an "example of interventionist hubris and naivete" built upon flawed interpretation of public opinion data.^[9] An article in the Middle East Research and Information Project called the work "some of the most propagandistic writing in support of President Barack Obama’s targeted kill lists to date."^[10] It censured the view that Pakistanis needed to be informed by the U.S. what is "good for them" as fraught with imperialist condescension; or the assumption that the Urdu press was less informed than the English press – because the latter was sometimes less critical of the U.S.^[10]

Fair's journalistic sources have been questioned for their credibility^[11] and she has been accused of having a conflict of interest due to her past work with U.S. government think tanks, as well the CIA.^[5] In 2011 and 2012, she received funding from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad to conduct a survey on public opinion concerning militancy. However, Fair states most of the grants went to a survey firm and that it had no influence on her research.^[5] Pakistani media analysts have dismissed Fair's views as hawkish rhetoric, riddled with factual inaccuracies, lack of objectivity, and being selectively biased.^{[11][12][13][14]} She has also been rebuked for comments on social media perceived as provocative, such as suggesting burning down Pakistan's embassy in Afghanistan or asking India to "squash Pakistan militarily, diplomatically, politically and economically." She has been accused of double standards, partisanship towards India, and has been criticized for her contacts with dissident leaders from Balochistan, a link which they claim "raises serious questions if her interest in Pakistan is merely academic."^[13]

Works

Books

• Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War (Oxford University Press, 2014). ISBN 978-0-19-989271-6.^[15][16]

Edited collections

• Treading on Hallowed Ground: Counterinsurgency Operations in Sacred Spaces (with Sumit Ganguly, Oxford University Press, 2008). ISBN 978-0-19-971189-5.
• Islam and Governance in Bangladesh (with Ali Riaz, Routledge, 2010). ISBN 978-1-136-92623-5.
• Pakistan in National and Regional Change: State and Society in Flux (with Shaun Gregory, Routledge, 2013). ISBN 978-0-415-83134-5.^[17]

Research reports

• Limited Conflicts Under the Nuclear Umbrella: Indian and Pakistani Lessons from the Kargil Crisis (with Ashley J. Tellis and Jamison Jo Medby, RAND, 2002). ISBN 978-0-8330-3229-4.
• The Counterterror Coalitions: Cooperation with Pakistan and India (RAND, 2004). ISBN 978-0-8330-3559-2.
• Urban Battle Fields of South Asia: Lessons Learned from Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan (RAND, 2005). ISBN 978-0-8330-4058-9.
• Fortifying Pakistan: The Role of U.S. Internal Security Assistance (with Peter Chalk, US Institute of Peace Press, 2006). ISBN 978-1-929223-88-6.^[18][19]
• The Madrassah Challenge: Militancy and Religious Education in Pakistan (US Institute of Peace Press, 2008). ISBN 978-1-60127-028-3.^[20]
• Counterinsurgency in Pakistan (with Seth G. Jones, RAND 2010). ISBN 978-0-8330-4976-6.

References

External links

• Personal web page
• Georgetown University
• The RAND Corporation
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• After bin Laden, Still No Choice for U.S. with Pakistan, Q&A with C. Christine Fair about U.S.–Pakistan relations (May 2011)