Dr. Shaheen Akhtar is a Professor in International Relations and Editor of Journal of Contemporary Studies at the Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University in Islamabad. Her areas of expertise are conflict resolution and peacebuilding in South Asia, foreign policy of major powers, and non-traditional security: energy, water, climate change and gender issues in South Asia. She has published a number of papers regarding peacebuilding and Kashmir. She is also part of the Kashmir Initiative Group (KIG) which aims to bridge the gap between local communities and policy makers