Peace Watch

Special Initiative on the Muslim World

April 2002

A white pigeon rests on a rooftop as Muslim pilgrims below perform the sunset prayers around the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, last year.

he U.S. Institute of Peace has launched a Special Initiative on the Muslim World that will address a broad range of political, social, cultural, and religious questions, many of which have come to light in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Former ambassador Richard D. Kauzlarich, a retired career Foreign Service officer, will head the initiative, which will focus on countries from Africa to South Asia.

Institute president Richard H. Solomon notes that the initiative will explore ways to enhance the prospects for long-term understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds, focusing initially on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and developments in South and Southeast Asia, later including Africa and other countries and regions. It will also support related Institute activities under the Rule of Law, Religion and Peacemaking, Education, and Training programs.

The Institute's Special Initiative on the Muslim World will look at issues in countries as diverse as Indonesia (above) and Nigeria (below right).

"The Institute of Peace has done substantial work training in conflict management and negotiation, facilitating interfaith dialogue, promoting the rule of law, and conducting a broad range of related education activities," Solomon says.

"The new initiative will incorporate this expertise and build on it to develop crisis management strategies" for dealing with and resolving conflicts in the Muslim world and between the Muslim and Western worlds, including fostering and engaging in "track-two" dialogues among key parties to conflict, he says. "We are especially pleased to have Ambassador Kauzlarich join us to direct this work."

Institute senior fellows and grantees will undertake work associated with the initiative. The Institute will make the initiative's work and findings available through Special Reports and other publications as well as through seminars, conferences, and related public events.

"The current world situation in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks demands a meaningful response that goes beyond short-term policy dialogue," Kauzlarich notes. "We need to identify new approaches to managing and preventing conflict with political and economic resources."

Deepa M. Ollapally, a former program officer in the Institute's Grant Program and South Asia specialist, will be the program officer for the initiative.