Fostering global understanding
Following months of upheaval marked by revolutions, the Middle East and the West find themselves at a rare crossroads. The opportunity now exists for the two regions to build bridges that can foster new levels of cultural, religious, and political understanding and mutual respect through education. That was the message delivered by a panel of scholars made up of the directors of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centers during a discussion held Feb. 8 as part of the centers’ annual meeting. The international network of academic centers — in addition to the one at Harvard, others have been founded at Georgetown University, the American University in Cairo, the American University of Beirut, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Edinburgh — were created to promote better mutual understanding through informed education about Islam and America. Moderated by R. Nicholas Burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at the...