Waleed Ziad

Waleed Ziad, a Pakistani, is one of the founders of the Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum. He is a principal at the Truman National Security Project, a think-tank that "envisions a Democratic Party that is preeminent in national security once again".

A biographical note on the center's website states that Ziad "is currently an Economist with Deloitte & Touche's International Economics Group in Washington, D.C. He was a consultant in Eastern Europe on public sector restructuring with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, and continues to advise and work with major grassroots development initiatives in Pakistan." 

"He received his B.A. from Yale University in Economics and Near Eastern Studies, focusing on international development and the socio-political roots of fundamentalism," it states. 

Ziad has written for the New York Times, International Herald Tribune and The News (Pakistan).

In one article he wrote:
 * Yes, the Muslim world had an unfortunate introduction to post-Enlightenment ideals, which came in the context of invasion, colonialism and exploitation. But the Arab philosophical and political movement that came out of that experience was not inherently anti-Western. In fact, in traditional Islamic thought the concept of violent resistance against an unjust ruler was virtually unheard of; for classical jurists, tyranny was preferable to the anarchy that accompanies revolt...


 * At the same time, our corporations should guide local entrepreneurs to promote a free market, the backbone of democracy. If anything is going to come of the neoconservative hope of making Iraq into a beacon of our values, it will be along these lines. (emphasis added)

In another article, Ziad offers advice on opening a new front in the War on Terror: "Permanently dislodging these extremists calls for educational, economic and cultural development" through funding "functional education" and "real economic opportunities" with "Western money"(emphasis added) so that the US is seen not as an occupier but a "purveyor of prosperity".