Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday appointed Dr Moeed Yusuf as special assistant on national security division and strategic policy planning. A notification has been issued in this regard by the Cabinet Division. His post will be equivalent to a minister of state. On September 26, Dr Moeed Yusuf was appointed as chairman of the Strategic Policy Planning Cell (SPPC) under the National Security Division (NSD). The purpose of the cell was to assist the government through research on national issues and draft policy recommendations to meet challenges being faced by the country. Dr Moeed Yusuf holds a Master’s degree in international relations and a PhD in political science from Boston University. He has served as associate vice-president at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). He has been engaged with USIP since 2010. Before joining USIP, he was a research fellow at the Frederick S Padree Centre for study of the longer-range future at the Padree School of Global Studies at Boston University’s Political Science Department.