Muslim World Initiative

The diverse peoples, cultures and societies that constitute the Muslim world are animated by a common ethical and religious heritage that resonates across the globe. From Jakarta to Cairo, from Dakar to Paris, Muslims sense that they form one grand community or umma. Yet this feeling coexists with social, political, cultural and religious forces that are pulling Muslim regions and states in different directions. Indeed, at no time in recent history has the Muslim world experienced such a degree of ideological, political and sectarian fragmentation. Rising tensions between Sunnis and Shi'ites, between non-Islamists and secularists, or between all these groups and their ethnic counterparts, threaten to undermine national and regional security. With three potential civil wars on its doorstep—in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine—the quest for a shared agenda of political and social change is giving way to a new kind of globalized sectarianism.

In this challenging context, the United States Institute of Peace, and in particular its Muslim World Initiative (MWI), has a special role to play. USIP works to build trust and dialogue between political, social and religious leaders in the United States and their counterparts in the Muslim world. Moreover, USIP assists religious, political and social activists in the Muslim world in their efforts to overcome a range of domestic and regional disputes. While it is ultimately up to Muslims themselves to forge such common ground, USIP offers a helping hand by sharing its expertise in the fields of conflict resolution, religion and peacemaking, and political reform.

Daniel Brumberg is the acting director of the Muslim World Initiative, which is a part of the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention.

• Study Group on Reform and Security in the Muslim World
  Over the last few years, mounting security challenges have raised concerns about how the United States can best promote political reform while safeguarding its security interests. Co-chaired by Larry Diamond and Francis Fukuyama, the Study Group is addressing this complex problem through a series of meetings that highlight the interplay of security and reform in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Each meeting will result in a country-specific report, culminating in an overarching Study Group Report to be released in fall 2008.
• Wasat Generation Dialogues: Easing Sectarian and Ideological Conflicts in the Middle East
  With an eye toward preventing low-level ideological conflicts in the Muslim world from escalating into violence, the Muslim World Initiative is convening dialogues in Cairo, which will feature participants from the new generation of political leaders. The dialogues present these "middle ground" or "wasat generation" leaders—who have been caught between autocratic regimes and the entrenched older generation of opposition activists—with a venue to evaluate their progress, build political alliances, and assess prospects for promoting common ground.
• Pivotal States Project
  The Pivotal States Project is a series of books focusing on key or "pivotal" states in the Muslim world: Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. By virtue of their influence in regional political, economic, and cultural networks, these states can play a critical role not only in the resolution of conflicts in their immediate vicinity, but also in moderating future relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

• Daniel Brumberg
  Acting Director
• Steven Heydemann
  Special Advisor
• Mona Yacoubian
  Special Advisor

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