Focus Group Asian Subcontinent

    Dear Specialists:

    Thank you for accepting the contract to advise myself, my chief aides, and the leaders of the various branches of the government in this matter.  We wish your team to provide detailed information and analysis of the historical and cultural phenomenon of Islam on the Asian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia.  In particular, we wish you to focus on the following areas: Pakistan, Indian-Pakistani rivarly in Kashmir,  Hindu-Muslim relations in India, and Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia.  These countries amount to a large percentage of the world's population.  The acquisition of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan coupled with their conflict over the disputed region of Kashmir is a major concern of the United States government.  We do not want any local conflicts to boil over to an exchange of nuclear weapons, and we look to your expertise in trying to understand the complexity of the issues and potential solutions.

    In deciding what policies our government should pursue, it is absolutely vital that we have the best information and advisement possible.  I will rely heavily on you and your group's presentation to provide me with the information and advice necessary to do my job and to serve our national interests.  I  need not remind you of the vital importance of what we are studying to both our own national security, as well as that of the world generally.

    Good luck!  We await eagerly the presentation of your focus group. 

    Very Truly Yours, 

    President of the United States

P.S.  Be sure to read this last reminder as you sit down in your groups to start this project!