The Alliance of Civilizations: Countering Extremism in Muslim-Western Relations
January 10, 2007
Intercultural Center Auditorium
Cosponsors: Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, BMW Center for German and European Studies
In response to ongoing tensions between Islam and the West, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan constituted a High Level Group to develop the idea of an Alliance of Civilizations. Composed of twenty prominent leaders drawn from politics, academia, civil society, business, and media around the world, the High-level Group published a report in November 2006 outlining an action plan to improve cross-cultural relations. The Alliance developed ideas that counter the Clash of Civilizations thesis and put forward concrete recommendations for improving relations across cultural and religious divides.
John Esposito, Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, is a member of the Group. He was joined on the panel by Shamil Idriss, Acting Director within the Alliance Secretariat, and Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, and Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue.
You can access the report here.