Switzerland - The Graduate Institute, Geneva

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, DIALOGUES: ISLAMIC WORLD-U.S.-
THE WEST
Address
Phone 212-998-3656
Fax 212-995-4091
Dialogues, Islamic World-US-The West,
Remarque Institute, 194 Mercer Street, 4 th floor,
New York, New York 10012
Web www.islamuswest.org
E-Mail
Category Dialogue
tlili@islamuswest.org
shaanti@islamuswest.org
MISSION STATEMENT
A program of New York University, Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West was established in the aftermath of the tragic events of
September 11, 2001, which highlighted the urgent need for greater communication among and about the Islamic World, the United
States, and the West.
The program has been launched as a structured forum for sustained dialogue involving voices from the various religious, intellectual,
economic, and political sectors of Islamic and American/Western societies, including those non-elite Islamic figures with proven
credibility in their communities who are too often unheard in the West. Dialogues is largely focused on Muslim claims and viewpoints,
as well as on efforts to understand various Islamic social and political movements. But the program also involves a discussion of the
Western value system, for true dialogue cannot be constructed as a one-way street.
Founding year 2002.
BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITIES
Dialogues is committed to a number of academic, policy, and outreach activities, including conferences on a variety of topics of
critical importance today—the clash of perceptions, elections, the nature of authority in the Islamic world and in the West, Muslims in
the West, the role of the media, and education, among others. These will result in the development of policy recommendations;
government leaders and other relevant authorities and organizations, including media decision-makers, will attend the meetings in
order to both help effect policy change and alter public perceptions. Moreover, Dialogues is creating a network of leaders who will
continue to communicate with and consult one another formally and informally for years to come—a valuable network for negotiating
peace in times of crisis.
With tensions between the Muslim and Western Worlds at a high point, Dialogues’ work is crucial to world peace and security.
Through dialogue, Muslim and Western community leaders can dispel the current climate of anger, check extremist trends, and lay
the foundations for a more comprehensive and lasting peace through mutually beneficial interaction.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
(2002). Clash of Civilizations or Clash of Perceptions? In Search of Common Ground for Understanding. Granada, Spain, Dialogues:
Islamic World -U.S.-The West: 1-98.