Director:
 Mustapha Tlili
Web Site: www.islamuswest.org

This program was established after Sept. 11 to provide a structured forum for sustained communication involving voices from all levels and sectors of Islamic and American and Western societies. Dedicated to a search for reasonable solutions to the misunderstandings and conflicts that have arisen between the Islamic world and the West, Dialogues is sponsoring a series of conferences and other events to promote understanding and, through policy recommendations, work toward creating a peaceful relationship between the two civilizations.

The period under review saw the evolution of Dialogues into a full-fledged program, with the convening of its first international conference in the historically resonant milieu of Granada, Spain in late Oct. 2002. The conference addressed the contentious theme of "Clash of Civilizations or Clash of Perceptions? In Search of Common Ground for Understanding. "Academics, policy makers, journalists and nongovernmental activists gathered for three full days of deliberation. Participants avoided, and indeed vigorously combated, the stereotyping that has become commonplace in both Muslim and Western societies, and their interaction shed light on the intricacies of cross-cultural relations. The conference was, by all measures, a success; it concluded that there was no preordained cultural hostility between the two different worlds, which have experienced periods of both cooperation and conflict. Indeed, Muslims and Westerners have more in common than they do dividing them. Furthermore, the Granada conference laid out a plan for future Dialogues events.

Participants recommended that Dialogues proceed with a more tightly focused series of activities. First, they proposed a workshop on elections, which will bring together Muslims and Westerners to discuss their experiences and exchange views on this important activity of modern political life, delineating common goals without prescribing a particular path. Second, participants recommended holding a workshop on the responsibilities of the media, which will bring together journalists, producers, scholars and policymakers to consider how to avoid stereotyping and distortions in reporting. Third, they recommended that Dialogues host a conference on the nature of Islamic authority today, bringing together Muslim leaders and intellectuals of diverse viewpoints, to consider the related questions of who has the right to interpret Islamic doctrine and what is "authentically "Islamic. The fourth and final recommendation was for a conference on Muslims in the West to examine the degree of their political participation and their perceptions of their own minority identity, as well as American and European governmental attitudes toward them. More information on the Granada conference and its conclusions can be found in the published report, which is available upon request from Dialogues. The report will also be posted on Dialogues ’Web site, which is in the final stages of construction.

The Granada conference was held thanks to the financial support of the Carnegie Corporation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the MacArthur Foundation and the local co-host, El Legado andalusí.

In pursuance of the Granada conference ’s recommendations and with the continuous support of the three American foundations, Dialogues is now preparing the workshop on Islam and elections, scheduled for early 2004 in Amman, Jordan. The program is also planning another international conference on issues of Islamic authority to be held later that year in a Muslim country yet to be determined.

In terms of policy outcomes, Dialogues ’ Director, Mustapha Tlili, has had the opportunity to present the program to a group of 20 permanent representatives to the United Nations at an Iftar dinner (the traditional meal for breaking the Ramadan fast) hosted by the Qatari ambassador. He also appeared before a group of members of the European Parliament at an event organized by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, vice chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security, and Defense Policy. Tlili has, as well, spoken at a breakfast meeting of the Aspen Institute ’s Congressional Group in Washington, D.C. The meeting was attended by 20 members of Congress, both senators and members of the House of Representatives. Finally, Tlili gave a briefing on Dialogues to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Canadian House of Commons.

The Granada conference report has been distributed to high officials of the U.S. administration (at the White House, State Department, Defense Department, C.I.A. and other government agencies)and to a large number of permanent representatives to the United Nations, as well as to senior European Union officials. Feedback from these recipients and others has recognized the timeliness and usefulness of the report and the Dialogues program in general.