WORDE Research Fellow
Mehreen Farooq’s areas of expertise include public policy, civic engagement and grass-roots community development. She received her MA in International Affairs from American University, focusing on the socio- political development of the broader Middle East. Her current projects include analyzing Pakistan’s civil society level efforts to counter extremism. Farooq has lived and traveled throughout Pakistan, including the frontier regions of Baluchistan. She is fluent in Urdu and has studied Arabic.
BIOGRAPHY
Mehreen Farooq is a Research Fellow with the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE). She received her MA in International Affairs from American University, focusing on the socio- political development of the broader Middle East.
At WORDE, Farooq joins a team of specialists who work with Muslims throughout the world to build community resilience against violent extremism. She advises US policymakers on developing strategies to engage Muslims worldwide – including the National Counterterorism Center, Admiral Mullen’s Joint Chief’s Staff, State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterrorism Communication, the Afghanistan-Pakistan Interagency Task Force, and policymakers in the Congressional Anti-terror Caucus, Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Mehreen Farooq has worked with Muslim community organizers, law enforcement officials and youth across America to produce “A Community Based Approach to Countering Radicalization,” one of the first Muslim-led studies in America to explore ways that Muslim American communities and policymakers can create bottom-up efforts to address homegrown radicalization, and engender greater trust between Muslim communities and the US Government.
Her recent articles and publications include “The Battle for Pakistan’s Soul” in the Foreign Policy Magazine’s Af Pak Channel; “How to Fight Jihad in America,” and “After Osama bin Laden’s Death, Time for a New Poster Child for Islam,” in the Christian Science Monitor; and “Defeating the Taliban in Pakistan,” in the Congressional daily, The Hill. She is also the co-author of the monograph, “Traditional Muslim Networks: Pakistan’s Untapped Resource in the Fight against Terrorism.”
Prior to joining WORDE, Farooq worked with McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy, the Center for Democracy and Election Management and the Middle East Institute. She has lived and traveled throughout Pakistan, including the frontier regions of Baluchistan. She is fluent in Urdu and has studied Arabic. She is a graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, and in 2007 was selected as a Fulbright scholar to research democratic movements in Egypt. Farooq received her BA in Political Science and Leadership from Christopher Newport University.
MONOGRAPHS
“A Community Based Approach to Countering Radicalization” WORDE Report, December 2010
“Traditional Muslim Networks: Pakistan’s Untapped Resource in the Fight Against Terrorism,” WORDE Report, May 2010
“Developing FATA: A White Paper for USAID,” December 2009
ARTICLES
“Evicting, the Taliban from Swat,” Foreign Policy Magazine, Af Pak Channel, November 2, 2011
“Pakistan’s Most Powerful Weapon,” Foreign Policy Magazine, Af Pak Channel, October 21, 2011
“The Battle for the Soul of Pakistan,” Foreign Policy Magazine: Af Pak Channel, September 1, 2011
“Countering Violent Extremism,” in “A Multi-Disciplinary White Paper in Support of Counter-Terrorism and Counter-WMD. Published by the US Department of Defense, ptember 2011 (Read Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi and Mehreen Farooq’s contribution on p. 94)
“After Osama bin Laden’s Death, Time for a New Poster Child for Islam,” Christian Science Monitor, May 3, 2011
“Five Myths about Islam and Muslims,” Perspectives, April 2011
“How to Fight Jihad in America,” Christian Science Monitor, December 16, 2010
“Defeating the Taliban in Pakistan,” The Hill, November 12, 2009