CRESCENT FOUNDATION
Crescent Foundation is an independent research organization dedicated to the ideal of a progressive Pakistan with Islamic characteristics. Since its establishment in 2003, Crescent Foundation has fulfilled its mission through publications, seminars, and political consultations. Crescent Foundation focuses on comparison of Western and non-Western political systems and development models. Activities of Crescent Foundation are funded by its network of patrons. Syed Sardar Ali is the founder and current Chairperson of Crescent Foundation.
Syed Sardar Ali
Syed Sardar Ali did his F.Sc. from Govt. College Lahore and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his first masters degree in International Relations from Japan, learned Japanese language, and worked for Sony Corporation and The Industrial Bank of Japan in Tokyo. He later earned Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard where he studied under Prof. Samuel Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Upon graduation he joined the World Bank in Washington, DC and worked in the Financial and Private Sector Unit in the Europe and Central Asia region until 2002.
Academic Qualifications
- Master in Public Administration Harvard (1996-98)
- Master in International Relations Japan (1989-91)
- BS Mech. Engineering UT Austin (1983-86)
Work Experience
Financial and Private Sector World Bank, Washington, DC
International Dept. Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo
Middle East Business Dept. Sony Corp., Tokyo
Engineering Dept. ICI Pakistan, Ltd.
Founded Crescent Foundation
Upon his return to Pakistan, Sardar Ali founded Crescent Foundation, a think tank and political study group, to analyze the problems of Pakistan in light of Big History. After researching how other nations have progressed, he outlined his thesis in a series of 13 lectures which are currently being transcribed into a three volume Urdu language book. English language version of his thesis has been published in Pakistan under the title, What Is to Be Done? Modernity, Islam, and Pakistan”. In Nov., 2023 he delivered a speech in the closing session of the the Global South Think Tanks Dialogue jointly organized in Xiamen, China by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Fujian provincial government, and the China Council for BRICS Think Tank Cooperation.
The Chairman of Crescent Foundation, Syed Sardar Ali, delivered a series of 13 lectures at at The Blackhole Islamabad. The topic of the sixth lecture was 'The Rise of Modern China.' After some time, this lecture was viewed by a think tank in China on YouTube. Subsequently, the Chinese Ambassador invited Mr. Sardar to a meeting. After two or three meetings, Mr. Sardar was urgently invited to participate in the 'Global South Think Tanks Dialogue' held from October 25, 2023 to November 3, 2023. He was the only scholar invited from Pakistan among more than 75 scholars from 60 countries. Over 100 scholars from various Chinese think tanks, universities, and policy-making institutions were also present at the program. Mr. Sardar Ali presented a special paper on the development of the Global South, which was highly praised at all levels. Perhaps for this reason he was the only non-Chinese delegate invited to speak at the closing ceremony.
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