Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed is a current Pakistani Senator and Chairman of the Senate Defence Committee. A graduate of the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program (Class of 1975), Senator Hussain Sayed has a distinguished career in the Pakistan public service as a four-time elected senator from the Islamabad Federal Capital. His public service career also includes positions as the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Central Asia (1992), Leader of Pakistan Delegation to UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva (1993), Special Assistant to Prime Minister (handling relations with U.S. & Central Asia) (1993), and Minister for Information, Culture & Tourism (1997-1999). He also served as Minister-in-Waiting to President Nelson Mandela, President Yasser Arafat, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, President Fidel Ramos & President Muhammad Morsi during their visits to Pakistan.

He has career experience in the journalism sector as well. He was the youngest editor at age 29 of The Muslim. He has contributed op-eds and articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, the LA Times, National Interest, Jane's Defence Weekly, Middle East International, Inter Press Service, The Times of India, and The Hindustan Times. He has published three works, including Pakistan and the Changing Regional Scenario, Pakistan’s Politics: The Zia Years, and Governance in Pakistan(co-author). He has founded several think tanks, including the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Pakistan-China Institute, and Action for Climate Change.