USIP, CSID, George Mason and ISESCO co-hosted this day-long conference examining America's relations with the Muslim world one year after President Obama's Cairo speech. 

 

This USIP co-sponsored event examined U.S. relations with the Muslim world one year after President Obama's pivotal speech at Cairo University.  Speakers included Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan, Special Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith, and U. S.  Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference Rashad Hussain.  USIP specialists Abiodun Williams, Daniel Brumberg and Mona Yacoubian also participated in the event.

 

Explore Further

Preliminary Program

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

  • Peter Mandaville
    Chair, Program Committee
  • Radwan Masmoudi
    CSID President

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Panel 1: Plenary Session Roundtable: Perspectives on Muslim Engagement featuring Farah Pandith

  • Peter Mandaville, Chair
    George Mason University
  • Farah Pandith
    Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State
  • Marc Lynch, respondent
    George Washington University
  • Emile Nakhleh, respondent
    Independent scholar
  • Brian Katulis, respondent
    The Center for American Progress
  • Daniel Brumberg, Respondent
    U.S. Institute of Peace

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Coffee Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Parallel Session 1: Muslim Perceptions & Public Opinion

  • Abiodun Williams, Chair
    Vice President, Conflict Prevention and Analysis, U.S. Institute of Peace
  • “Views of the U.S. in Post-Jihadist Thought”
    Omar Ashour, University of Exeter
  • “Muslim publics' views of the U.S.”
    Steven Kull, Worldpublicopinion.org
  • “A Nigerian Perspective on the Cairo Speech”
    Chloe Berwind-Dart, Cherish Foundation
  • “New Approaches to Public Diplomacy in the Muslim World”
    Kristin Lord, Center for a New American Security

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Parallel Session 2: Islam, Human Rights, and Development

  • Mona Yacoubian, Chair
    U.S. Institute of Peace
  • “The Obama Administration and Islamic Human Rights”
    Satoshi Ikeuchi, University of Tokyo
  • “Arab Youth Development in U.S.-Muslim Engagement”
    Oliver Wilcox & Chris Carneal, U.S. Agency for International Development, Middle East Bureau
  • “Political Islam and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Obama Era”
    Halim Rane, Griffith University
  • “Constructing Political Islam as the New Other”
    Corinna Mullin, School of Oriental & African Studies

12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Keynote Luncheon: Prospects for Improved Relations and Understanding Between the U.S. and the Muslim World

  • Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN)
  • Tariq Ramadan
    Oxford University
  • Reza Aslan
    University of California, Riverside

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Plenary Session Amphitheater: Dialogue with Political Islamists

  • Daniel Brumberg, Moderator
    United States Institute of Peace
  • Mustapha Khalfi
    Justice & Development Party, Morocco
  • Zineddine Tebbal,
    Movement for the Society of Peace, Algeria
  • Salah Ali Abdulrahman
    Islah Movement, Bahrain
  • Quinn Mecham, Respondent
    Professor, Middlebury College
    Professor, George Washington University
    Franklin Fellow, Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Coffee Break

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Parallel Session 3: Voices from the Middle East

  • Emad El-Din Shahin, Chair
    University of Notre Dame
  • “Civil Society Organizations as Actors of Change in the MENA Region: Potentialities and Challenges”
    Nabila Hamza, Foundation for the Future, Amman, Jordan
  • “The U.S. Image among Arab’s New Generation: Finding and Recommendations from Experimental Research”
    Moataz A. Fattah, Cairo University & Central Michigan University
  • “Back to the Spirit of the Cairo Speech: From Marshall Plan to Obama Plan”
    Alaya Allani, University of Tunis
  • "Taliban’s Islamic State, Obama’s Olive Branch and Democracy in the Muslim World: An Examination of Governance in Contemporary Pakistan"
    Abdullah Al-Ahsan, International Islamic University, Malaysia

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Parallel Session 4: Democracy & Democracy Promotion

  • Asma Afsaruddin, Chair
    Indiana University
  • “Evaluating Obama’s Contributions to Iran’s Democratic Opposition”
    Laila Taraghi, University of Arkansas
  • “The Role of the U.S. in Encouraging Pro-Democracy Movements”
    Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco
  • “Applying Sustainable Democracy Promotion to the Muslim World”
    Eric Patterson, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
  • "Challenges to Integrating Democracy Promotion in U.S. Policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan"
    Brian Katulis, The Center for American Progress

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Concluding Keynote: Building Bridges of Understanding Between America and Muslim Majority States

  • Rashad Hussain
    U. S. Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference

Related Publications

Somalia’s Critical Transition Comes amid al-Shabab and Hunger Challenges

Somalia’s Critical Transition Comes amid al-Shabab and Hunger Challenges

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

By: Susan Stigant

On May 15, Somali legislators selected former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to reprise the chief executive role he played from 2012-2017. The vote marks a critical transition for Somalia and in the Horn of Africa, particularly after the election was delayed by two years and marred by corruption and violence. President Hassan Sheikh will return to power in a country seemingly splitting at the seams, amid a devastating drought, a metastasizing terrorist threat and a fractious political scene. Meanwhile, President Biden has decided to redeploy U.S. troops to fight the terrorist group al-Shabab, reversing a move made by President Trump at the end of his term.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceViolent Extremism

Why the U.S. Needs a Special Envoy for the Red Sea

Why the U.S. Needs a Special Envoy for the Red Sea

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

By: Payton Knopf

The Trump administration has appointed four special envoys to coordinate U.S. policy toward key hot spots: Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Afghanistan. Yet in the Red Sea—one of the most volatile and lethal regions of the world afflicted by several interconnected conflicts and rivalries that pose significant challenges to American interests—U.S. policy has been rudderless in large part due to the absence of a similar post.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyConflict Analysis & Prevention

View All Publications