KEY POINTS
- Kapur is a professor at the United States Naval Postgraduate School
- He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution
- Kapur is author of Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State
ISLAMABAD: S Paul Kapur is Donald Trump’s nominee for top South Asia job in US State Department. Kapur will replace Donald Lu, who was asked to leave the position with the shift in the administration, once the Senate confirms him, according to Hindustan Times.
S Paul Kapur, an expert on India-Pakistan security and nuclear issues, is likely to be the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, the top job for the region in America’s diplomatic arm, according to the Indian publication.
According to Naval Postgraduate School’s website, Kapur is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
From 2020-2021, Kapur served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, working on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and US-India relations. Previously, he taught at Claremont McKenna College, and was a visiting professor at Stanford University.
Kapur is author of Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State (Oxford University Press, 2016); Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia (Stanford University Press, 2007); co-author of India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia (Columbia University Press, 2010); and co-editor of The Challenges of Nuclear Security: US and Indian Perspectives (Palgrave MacMillan, 2024).
His work has appeared in leading academic journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Asian Survey, and Washington Quarterly; in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the National Interest, and RealClearPolicy; and in a wide variety of edited volumes.
According to Hoover Institute’s website, Kapur Kapur also directs a US-India Track 1.5 strategic dialogue, as well as other US-India engagements, for the Department of Defense. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago and his BA from Amherst College.
According to Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India’s website, he is a visiting fellow at the institute.
