Pakistan's Power Crisis: From Beginning to End

The talk will cover Pakistan’s energy crisis from its inception to the present. It will examine key changes in the policy environment that began in the late 1980s and how these shaped the course that Pakistan’s power sector took over the next quarter century. The power crisis is only the most visible manifestation of the crisis of modern state and society that Pakistan, like many other countries, is grappling with. The talk will therefore focus on the multiple pathways – political and economic, domestic and international – that have led to the present situation, and how these can help us find a way forward.
Khurram Husain is a business and economy journalist with Dawn newspaper, based out of Karachi. He has worked in television for six years prior to joining Dawn. His work has been carried by the BBC, CNN, and Emerging Markets, among many others. He covered the power crisis extensively as part of a four part documentary series, as well as producing and hosting special transmissions on the subject. Prior to joining journalism, Khurram taught at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Last year he was selected to be the Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, where he researched the history of Pakistan’s relationship with the IMF. His focus has always been on Pakistan’s economy, its evolution and myriad connections with the larger historical trends of the past quarter century. He lives in Karachi.