John Esposito

John L. Esposito is a University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs, Professor of Islamic Studies, and the Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies; he is currently a member of the High Level Group of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, a body of twenty international leaders drawn from politics, academia, civil society, international finance, and media that guides the Alliance's work. He has written over thirty books, including Islam: The Straight Path (2004), Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (2002), and The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? (1999). Esposito received the American Academy of Religion’s 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.