New York University’s Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West will host “Why Do They Hate Us? They Used to Love Us! U.S. Public Diplomacy and its Challenges in the Muslim World,” a panel discussion on Tuesday, October 18th, 7:15 - 9:00 p.m. at Jurow Hall in NYU’s Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East (at Washington Place). The panel includes the following: Craig Charney, president of Charney Research; Farhad Kazemi, professor of politics and Middle Eastern studies, director of NYU’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and member of the U.S. Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World; Edward Mortimer, director of communications in the executive office of the Secretary-General, United Nations (participating in his personal capacity); and Andras Szanto, research affiliate at Princeton’s Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies and former director of the Public Diplomacy Program at Columbia University’s School of Journalism. The event will be moderated by Mustapha Tlili, founder and director of Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West.
On the heels of Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes’s recent “listening tour” in the Middle East, U.S. public diplomacy - especially as it is directed toward the Muslim world - has taken center stage. But does it really matter? Is it possible to improve the image of the United States in the Muslim world? Panelists will examine whether the right efforts to communicate can produce shifts in attitudes, and whether the U.S. government is missing a crucial window of opportunity. Attention will be given to a recent report on how America can respond to Muslim anti-Americanism, prepared by Charney Research for the Council on Foreign Relations and based on focus groups in Egypt, Morocco, and Indonesia.
The event is free and open to the public, which may call 212.998.3656 or email shaanti.kapila@nyu.edu for more information. Reporters interested in attending should contact James Devitt, Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
A program of New York University, Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West emerged from the tragedy of September 11th, which highlighted the need for greater communication among and about the United States, Europe, and the Muslim world. Dialogues was founded as a forum for constructive debate between the various religious, intellectual, economic, and political sectors of American, European, and Islamic societies. The program brings contentious issues between the Islamic world and the West into a more rational plane and promotes this approach to a wide audience, including the important constituencies of policy and decision-makers, policy analysts, the media, and educational institutions.