Dr. Asma Shakir Khawaja is a distinguished academician and policy expert of Kashmiri descent, with an exceptional record in strategic studies, peace and conflict research, and regional security discourse. She is the Founding Executive Director of the Centre for International Strategic Studies, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (CISS AJK), and the only woman ever appointed to such a position by Pakistan's National Command Authority (NCA).

With an illustrious career spanning academia, policy research, and institution-building, Dr. Khawaja previously served as Head of the Department of Strategic Studies at the National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad. She was the founding faculty member and played a pioneering role in establishing Pakistan's first Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at NDU in 2008.

Dr. Khawaja was selected for the prestigious Allama Iqbal Chair at the University of Cambridge in 2021. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed book Shaking Hands with Clenched Fists: The Grand Trunk Road to Confidence Building Measures between Pakistan and India, a seminal work presenting Pakistan's perspective on conflict resolution and confidence-building in South Asia. She is the Chief Editor of Strategic Perspective: A Journal of Strategic Affairs, the first publication of its kind from Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr. Khawaja earned her PhD in South Asian Studies from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholar, and holds multiple master's degrees and an MPhil from Quaid-i-Azam University. Her research interests include strategic stability, peacebuilding, geopolitics, energy politics, regional security, and women in peace and security. She is a recipient of the Presidential Gold Medal of Merit and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS), USA, Alumni Achievement Award.

Her international engagements include fellowships and professional associations with DAAD, APCSS, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) USA, the Rotary Peace Fellowship, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Marshall Center. She currently serves as President of the APCSS Alumni Association Pakistan.

Dr. Khawaja brings deep scholarly insight, institutional experience, and regional expertise to the GPS Forum's work on peace, security, strategic stability, conflict resolution, and policy dialogue.