Thursday, Nov. 30, the Alexander Hamilton Society at the College of William and Mary hosted Daniel Markey, a senior advisor on South Asia for the U.S. Institute of Peace who specializes in South Asian politics, in Washington Hall for a moderated discussion about the current tensions in South Asia. During the event, Markey shared his predictions on the future of U.S.-India and U.S.-Pakistan relations.
Starting in academia at Johns Hopkins University, Markey moved to working in the state department at the Office of Policy Planning. There, he reported to the Secretary of State. Markey commented on the unusual job trajectory he has had throughout his lifetime and his philosophy on success.
“Life works in mysterious ways,” Markey said. “I judged success by how much I was learning, not really what I was doing.”
Once his time at the state department ended, Markey received a key piece of advice from one of his bosses that would continue to stick with him as he progressed in his research on South Asia.
“You’re not going to be good at South Asia unless I send you to spend some time in India and Pakistan and travel around,” Markey said, repeating his old boss’ statement.
Andy Shufer ’25 moderated the event. In his first question to Markey, Shufer asked about facets of U.S. cooperation with India and about which connections the United States should localize to create a better relationship with the country.
Much of Markey’s research focuses on the necessity of localized engagement with American involvement in India. Markey mentioned that while the American government believes there are shared democratic values between the United States and India, India has very different national interests. This divergence in national interests causes the United States to take a more nuanced approach when cooperating with Asian countries.
“It’s got a growing economy, and it is a very generous guardian of its own sovereignty. That is, it doesn’t want the United States or outsiders to be all that much engaged inside of India,” Markey said.
Thus, a prominent opportunity for improving U.S. relations with India is having the United States supply Indian arms instead of the current deal, in which India receives arms from Russia at a cheaper price. Additionally, India currently purchases oil from Russia at a cheaper price. For Markey, this a prime opportunity for the United States to engage with India without infringing upon its sovereignty.
Markey also discussed the notable international concern over the Indian government’s crackdown on basic democratic values.
“I think it’s been troubling to me to see India stepping back in terms of history,” Markey said. “And all of that has really accelerated over the past ten years under the current Indian government, the BJP.”
Markey noted that the BJP, or Bharatiya Janata Party, has been accused of censoring the media and promoting Hindu nationalist views. For Markey, this only increases the issue of political turmoil in South Asia, particularly increasing the divide between India and the majorly-Muslim Pakistan.
Shufer then asked Markey about how people can get past negative history in order to improve U.S.-India-Pakistan relationships.
“Now, my expectation and my hope at the height is that maybe we can have a narrow partnership with Pakistan,” Markey said.
He discussed how the United States can work to address problems of counterterrorism and help ensure Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is secure to avoid the worst possible outcome in the South Asian region, which could potentially include another India-Pakistan conflict. Markey also mentioned the possibility of a destabilized Pakistan, partially on the basis of what is happening in the neighboring Afghanistan as well as a currently unstable domestic political climate with a recently ousted Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
Additionally, Markey took time to reflect on recent headlines regarding the Indian government’s involvement in the United States. Specifically, he focused on the news that an Indian government employee initiated a plot to murder a Sikh American citizen in New York City.
“We’re at a disturbing point with India because of a story with a plot from the Indian government to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City,” Markey said. “This raises alarm bells for the future of U.S-India relations.”
Attendee Yera Park ’25 commented on the talk.
“I am from South Korea, so I am more familiar with East Asia than South Asia, but [the talk] was really helpful, and I learned a lot about South Asia,” Park said.
When asked about what resonated with her the most, Park mentioned how she did not realize India was apprehensive about forming an allyship with America.
“I knew that America and India were partners, but I didn’t know that India was reluctant about being an ally with the U.S. and that the dynamics can be almost negative in some sense,” Park said. “I thought America was wanted by most countries — that’s how it goes with South Korea and Japan.”
AHS executive member Jack Keating ’26 discussed why Markey was chosen to speak.
“We chose Dr. Markey as a speaker, because we wanted to choose something outside of the normal China and Russia debates, which tend to be most foreign policy events,” Keating said.
CORRECTION (12/6/23): This article was updated by Sarah Devendorf, the Standards and Practices Editor to change the misspelling “Atendee” to “Attendee” and to correct the spelling of Yera Park’s ’25 name.
