Insights on economy, entrepreneurship, and culture, with a focus on one of the world’s most dynamic regions - the Middle East and South Asia.
ARSALAN ALI FAHEEM | ارسلان علىي فهيم
Arsalan is an economic competitiveness expert and director at a global development company which delivers projects in more than one hundred countries. He has advised international cooperation agencies, governments, and firms in the Middle East, East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia.
Arsalan has written for the MIT Technology Review-Pakistan, Express Tribune-International Herald Tribune, 3 Quarks Daily, The Friday Times, The News, and the Daily Times. He has provided commentary on international affairs for Bloomberg, DAWN News, Voice of America, CNBC Pakistan, and the Brown Daily Herald.
Born in the cantonment city of Rawalpindi in Northern Pakistan, Arsalan developed a passion for reading while rummaging through the dusty libraries of his grandfather’s home, stacked with war histories and mystery novels. Educated in Karachi and Providence, he has since lived and worked in the United States, United Kingdom, and Palestine.
He believes that economic progress is intertwined with cultural construct and historical experience. Through his written work, he seeks to explore the lesser-understood parts of the world, foster international cooperation, and contribute to cultural rejuvenation.
Arsalan holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration-Karachi (Pakistan’s oldest business school, set up by the University of Pennsylvania in 1955), and a Master’s in Public Policy from Brown University, where he delivered the 2010 Graduate School Commencement Address “The Kaleidoscope: From Pindi to Providence.”
Arsalan speaks English, Urdu, and intermediate Arabic (Levantine).
He prefers Arabic coffee to cappuccino, despises malls, and feels at home at roadside cafes and in old bazaars. On the weekend, you might find him listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Oum Kalthoum, Mohammad Mounir, or Sinatra.
