On May 5, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy will hold its 10th annual conference and banquet in Arlington, Virginia, entitled, “How to Improve Relations with the Muslim World: Challenges and Promises Ahead“:
The election of Barack Obama as America’s 44th president has galvanized the entire nation, indeed the entire world. A world full of possibilities appears to have opened up, prompted by President Obama’s attitude and policies of inclusiveness and even-handedness. In his inaugural address, the new president remarked memorably, “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
All these developments give rise to the following questions—does this deliberate change in the new administration’s worldview augur a more hopeful trajectory for US relations with the Muslim world? Dare we imagine just and more equitable approaches—and eventually solutions—to the political and economic problems which beset many Muslim-majority societies? Will there be a concerted effort to revive the peace process in the Middle East? Will the war-torn societies of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, for example, have opportunities to heal and become fully self-determining?
Keynote speakers will include Ahmed Shaheed, John Esposito, Shibley Telhami, and, potentially, Hillary Clinton and Keith Ellison. Go to the center’s website for more details, and click here to register.