Asher Raza
| Asher Raza | |
|---|---|
 Asher Tashkent City Mall 3598.jpeg | |
| Born | October 2002 |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 🏫 Education | Virginia Tech |
| 💼 Occupation | Formerly U.S. Department of State |
DISCLAIMER: The purpose of this page is purely informational, intended to share a basic overview of Asher’s personal and academic background.
Asher Raza is a Boren Scholar, former United States Foreign Service Intern for the U.S. Department of State, and a graduate of Virginia Tech, where he majored in National Security & Foreign Affairs with double minors in Arabic and Middle East Studies.
Additionally, he authored the Supreme Constitution of the Iranian Republic, a hypothetical blueprint for a future democratic and semi-secular Iranian government, opposing the current theocratic regime.
Asher started his work at the U.S. State Department in February 2023 as a paid student intern, part of the larger Student Internship Program (SIP) Spring 2023 cohort at the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, D.C. After the completion of his spring internship, he continued his work for the State Department for a subsequent two summers as part of the United States Foreign Service Internship Program (USFSIP) for the U.S. Department of State, alongside 35 other cohort members. The program was broken into two consecutive summers: a ten week long domestic and then overseas assignment.
Asher was assigned Office of India in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs for his domestic assignment in the Summer of 2023, and then sent to serve as part of the U.S. Mission to Uzbekistan at the American Embassy in Tashkent for his Summer 2024 overseas posting as part of the Public Diplomacy division.
While Asher ceremonially graduated in Spring 2024, he extended his formal graduation date to December of that year in order to him to be able to study abroad on the Boren Scholarship, which he was awarded through the National Security Education Program (NSEP).
During his time at Virginia Tech, Asher became a certified Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) scholar, and worked as a paid research fellow at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology. In addition to learning Arabic in college, Asher is a native fluent Urdu and Hindi speaker. At Virginia Tech, he was an active member of the Strategic Intelligence Organization (SIO), where he served as the Team Lead for intelligence analysis and geopolitical war gaming scenarios. He also served as a research lead for Diplomacy Lab at Virginia Tech, where his team came up with new solutions on countering violent extremism in the Sahel region.
Author of the Supreme Constitution of the Iranian Republic[edit]
Following the wake of the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran in 2022, as a critic of the Iranian regime, Asher Raza authored an alternative Constitution for a future democratic Iran, formally titled as the Supreme Constitution of the Iranian Republic, published in January 2023. Asher believes it could potentially serve as a strong blueprint to a successor government in the event that the current government of the Islamic Republic of Iran led by the Ayatollahs is ever over toppled. However, Asher has repeatedly emphasized that only the Iranian people should decide their own future and his constitutional proposal is simply intended to serve as an intellectual exercise in alternative democratic governance structure and serve as one of many blueprints for the future.
In his proposed Constitution, Asher Raza advocates for the establishment of a semi-secular "Iranian Republic" that incorporates specific Islamic elements based on the philosophy of Islamic Socialism. This framework seeks to balance Islamic and secular values while establishing an economic welfare state. The Constitution outlines a presidential system of representative democracy and includes a Charter of People's Rights, envisioning an alternative post-theocratic secular Iranian government. Emphasizing constitutional democracy, it explicitly secures the rights of women and aims to create a more inclusive and equitable society.
Other Projects[edit]
DISCLAIMER: It is important to note that the content of these academic works are purely a reflection and integration of Asher’s personal views, and under no circumstances representative of State Department policy or anywhere else he worked. Furthermore, the views expressed in these papers are entirely separate from any duties Asher may have performed while serving as a federal employee.
Asher’s first freshman undergraduate literature review, from November 2021, focused on the immediate strategic political and security implications for the Pakistan - India relationship regarding the aftermath of the Taliban’s 2021 Reconquest of Afghanistan. This was published three months after the 2021 Fall of Kabul.
In December 2023, Asher published an academic paper for his intelligence analysis course at Virginia Tech titled, "Combating Russia and Wagner's Influence in Libya and Sudan", outlining possible strategies and proposals for the U.S. government to engage in covert military and economic intervention in North Africa, with a focus on the ending the internal conflicts in Sudan and Libya, moving both countries towards democratization, and diminishing the Wagner group’s influence in both states in exchange for significant economic, political, and military incentives in return.
Asher firmly believes that China is America's foremost strategic challenge for the foreseeable future. In a December 2023 final paper for his Junior level National Security course, he repeatedly asserts that the U.S. has officially entered the Second Cold War, and urged an immediate and comprehensive reassessment of our national priorities by passionately championing the idea of a "Pacific NATO," favoring the creation of the hypothetical "PACIFICO": Pacific Alliance for Collective Intervention, Freedom, & Operational Defense, as a comprehensive strategic defense framework to contain aggressive Chinese policies, particularly in regards to Taiwan. This would be separate from the Quad or ASEAN, which are predominantly forums for economic development and peaceful regional cooperation. His analysis required him to survey young students at Virginia Tech from diverse political backgrounds anonymously. When questioned about the prospect of direct American intervention in conflicts involving Israel, Ukraine, and/or Taiwan, it revealed that students within his age group held predominantly negative opinions about U.S. aid and support for Israel, mixed opinions on Ukraine, but a clear consensus in favor of American intervention to defend Taiwan, which Asher used to strengthen his case that there is a strong consensus on taking a more assertive foreign policy approach to China, including within his own age group, the primary demographic that would fight in combat in the event of such war.
As a student of Arabic, Asher also utilized some of his previous film production experience from High School to produce a humorous Arabic Video Project towards the end of his Freshman year at Virginia Tech, starring alongside U.S. Army Cadet Jack Bonner and Virginia Tech Alumni Arib Ali.
Other Experiences[edit]
In July 2024, Asher visited Israel and the West Bank, staying in Ramallah, driven by a desire to understand the region better. Engaging with Israeli and Palestinian families, he witnessed different perspectives firsthand. During his visit, Asher also traveled to Jerusalem and visited significant sites such as the Al Aqsa Mosque. In Ramallah, he brushed up on his Arabic linguistic skills and observed the economic and security challenges in the Qalandia Refugee Camp, seeking to deepen his understanding of the region beyond his academic studies.
Background[edit]
Asher was born in October 2002 in New Jersey to first generation Pakistani American parents.
Some of Asher’s hobbies include activities like long distance running, hiking and skydiving. During his first summer as a U.S. Foreign Service Intern, Asher partook in several extracurricular activities including skydiving with several other members of his cohort towards the end of the internship.
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