Muhammad Imran Mehsud

PhD

RESEARCH STAFF

Research Fellow, Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad

AFFILIATION
N/A
COLLEGE
N/A
WEBSITE
irs.org.pk
EMAIL
imran@irs.org.pk
OTHER LINKS
Twitter @imran
OFFICE ADDRESS
Institute of Regional Studies, Ataturk Avenue, F-5/2, Islamabad


Muhammad Imran Mehsud is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) and a Research Associate in international relations at Harvard University. His research focuses on India-Pakistan transboundary water governance. Before joining IRS, he taught international relations at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Hazara University Mansehra for 16 years. During this time, he taught at BS, MPhil, and PhD levels and supervised over 20 MPhil research theses.

Imran has held a postdoctoral fellowship at the the Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard University, and a doctoral fellowship at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. His postdoctoral research examined the effectiveness of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in addressing current transboundary water issues between India and Pakistan. An overview of his research is featured in an interview published in the Mittal Institute's online newsletter. While at Harvard, Imran also audited three courses: “Water Resources in Developing Countries,” “Modern China: 1894–Present,” and “Civil War and Insurgency in the Modern World.”

Imran obtained his PhD and MPhil degrees from the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. His doctoral thesis focused on the Indus Waters Treaty in the context of Pakistan’s quest for water security, while his MPhil thesis explored hydropolitics in South Asia, particularly the India-Pakistan water disputes. He holds an MSc in Political Studies from the Area Study Centre, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, and a BA from Islamia College Peshawar.

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Imran has authored a novel. The central theme of his unpublished literary work is childhood indoctrination and the challenging process of unlearning deeply ingrained early lessons.

Research

His research focuses on:

  • Hydropolitics in South Asia (transboundary water governance, conflict, and cooperation over shared water resources)
  • India-Pakistan water disputes
  • The Indus Waters Treaty

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES

1. Mehsud, M.I. Depoliticizing the Indus and the Second Face of Power. Political Geography (under review)

2. Mehsud, M. I. (2022). Retrospecting the Indus Mediations through Waltz’s Levels of Analysis.Water Policy, 24 (9), 1450–1460.

3. Mehsud, M. I. (2021). Pakistan’s Indus Diplomacy: From Troubled Waters to a Troubled Treaty. International Negotiation, 27(2), 247-263.

4. Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Lilienthal’s Another ‘Korea’ in the Making? From the Cold War to the Indus Waters Treaty. World Water Policy, 6, 202–211.

5. Mehsud, M. I., Naqvi, A. A., & Khan, T. A. (2021). Pakistan’s Water Security: Contemporary Challenges and Options. Journal of Politics and International Studies, 7(1), 125-138.

6. Mehsud, M. I., Naqvi, A. A., & Khan, T. A. (2021). Is Blood Thicker Than Water? A Hydrological Versus Ideological Perspective of the Kashmir Dispute. Pakistan Journal of International Affairs, 4(3), 130-143.

7. Mehsud, M. I., Jalal, I., Khan, T. A., & Wazir, S. A. (2022). Pakistan’s Lower Riparian Anxieties on the Indus and Indian Assurances. Journal of South Asian Studies, 10(1), 01-07.

8. Mehsud, M. I., Jan, A., & Khan, T. A. (2021). Theorizing South Asian Hydropolitics: Interdependence, Identity or Power? International Review of Social Sciences, 9(1), 201-210.

9. Mehsud, M. I., Jan, A., & Khan, T. A. (2020). War or Peace on the Rivers of South Asia? Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal, 4(1), 242-254.

10. Mehsud, M. I., Khan, T. A. (2019). Water War Thesis: Perspective from South Asia. Journal of Political Studies, Special Conference Issue, 105-118.

11. Mehsud, M. I., Ahmad, M., & Khan, A. (2017). When States Go Thirsty: A Critical Analysis of Water War Thesis. Global Strategic and Security Studies Review, 2(1), 1-8.

12. Mehsud, M.I, Inayat, M., & Hussain, M. (2018). Role of the US in Pakistan’s Post-Partition Quest for Water Security. Pakistan Journal of American Studies, 36(1), 1-13.

13. Mehsud, M. I., Khan, T. A., & Jan, A. (2021). God, Man and Water: A Comparative Study of Islam and Hinduism. Pakistan Journal of Islamic Philosophy, 3(2), 17-29.

14. Mehsud, M. I., Jalal, I., Khan, T. A., & Jan, A. (2021). India-Pakistan Water Relations: A Theoretical Perspective. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(2), 158–166.

15. Mehsud, M. I., Jan, A., & Khan, T. A. (2021). Nature of India-Pakistan Water Disputes. Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review, 5(2), 119-130.

16. Mehsud, M. I., Khan, T. A., & Jalal, I. (2021). The Hydropolitics of South Asia: An Analysis. Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 3(3), 01-13.

17. Mehsud, M. I., Adnan, M., & Jan, A. (2020). The Hydropolitics of the Indus Waters Treaty: A Critical Perspective. Global Strategic and Security Studies Review, 5(4), 1-8.

18. Mehsud, M. I., Jan, A., & Khan, T. A. (2021). Electoral Agenda and Climate Change: A Comparative Study of Media Campaign of the UK, the US and Australian Political Parties. International Review of Social Sciences, 9(1), 113-122.

19. Khan, T. A., Mehsud, M. I., & Jan, A. (2021). Constructivism in India-Pakistan Relations: A Critique from Realism. Pakistan Journal of International Affairs, 4(2), 494-508.

20. Jan, A., Khan, T.A., Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Climate Change Awareness and Literacy in Pakistan: Role of Media and Social Actors. Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal, 4(2), 256-266.

21. Hussain, S., Raja, I., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Challenges to the Implementation of National Climate Change Policy of Pakistan. International Journal of Political Science and Development, 8(6), 199–208.

22. Khan, T. A., Khan, A., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Ethnic Diversity and Federation of Pakistan: A Societal Perspective. Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal, 4(2), 130-144.

23. Jan, A., Maliik, A., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Facebook Mania of Youth and Satisfaction of their Needs in Pakistan: A uses and Gratification Analysis. Global Sociological Review, 5(3), 41-47.

24. Sultana, I., Adnan, M., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Media, Culture and Indigenous Languages in Pakistan: A Critical Review. Global Language Review, 5(4), 27-33.

25. Jan, A., Khan, T. A., & Mehsud, M. I. (2021). Genesis of Social Media and the Nature of its Users. Pakistan Journal of International Affairs, 4(3), 249-265.

26. Khan, T. A., Ali, Q., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Federalism in Pakistan and its Challenges. International Journal of Social Science Archives, 3(1), 9–16.

27. Hussein, S., Khan, A., & Mehsud, M. I. (2020). Religion and Epidemics: An Islamic Perspective. Pakistan Review of Social Sciences, 1(2), 1-13.

Work In Progress

  • Juxtaposing the Indus Waters Treaty with International Water Law
  • Kashmiri Apprehensions Against the Indus Waters Treaty
  • Taliban’s Take over in Afghanistan: Implications for Pakistan-Afghanistan Water Relations
  • Gated or Ungated: Pakistan’s Strategic Concerns Against Indian Dams on the Western Rivers
  • Climate Change in the Himalayas: Implications for Sino-Indian Hydropolitics
  • Bridges Over Water: Challenges and Prospects for Sino-Indian Cooperation on the Brahmaputra (tentative title)
  • Renegotiating the Indus: Indus II or the Grand Indus Treaty?
  • India-Pakistan Transboundary Water Issues and the Controversial Dispute Resolution Mechanisms of the Indus Waters Treaty (tentative title)