RSVP for Madison Committee on Foreign Relations

5:30pm - 7:30pm, December 10, 2019, The Madison Club (5 E Wilson St, Madison).

press release: The Madison Committee on Foreign Relations presents “Conflict vs. Stability in Muslim-Majority Countries—What Makes the Difference?”

Speaker: Peter Mandaville, Professor of Government and Politics in the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University

Continuing political unrest in the Middle East, Palestinian-Israeli tensions, and the presence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, have led some in the West to believe that something about the religion of Islam itself is the cause. Are these difficulties driven by religion, or is the truth more complex? The Madison Committee on Foreign Relations will host two programs in 2019-2020 to explore this issue.

The December program will explore the contemporary nature of Islam, including the role of contending sects of Islam (Sunni, Shia, Ismaili), cultural factors, and the relationship between Islam and governing concepts, to help us understand the structural and historic basis for prominent events in the news in the context of current hot spots in the Middle East.

As a counterpoint, the second program ([Tentative]Stability and Progress in a Muslim-Majority Country: Indonesia as an Example of a Successful Transition to Democracy, Eusook Jung, January 23) will focus on stable majority-Muslim countries, such as those in Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on a country such as Indonesia as a noteworthy example.  To what can we attribute the success of these governments?  

Together, the two programs will contribute some clarity to a complex and much-misunderstood aspect of the modern political situation.

$30 for guests, $10 for student guests, free for MCFR members

Register on our website: mcfr.info

Contact for questions: info@mcfr.info

RSVP by December 8, 2019