For many in the West, political violence in Algeria, the Middle East, and elsewhere has come to symbolize the threat of “Islamic activism.” Terrorist attacks such as the bombing on the World Trade Towers have solidified this view. Western governments, however, must deal with the challenge of extremism in the broader context of their relations with diverse states with contrasting histories, geographies, and peoples.

To assess this challenge, the Institute brought together a distinguished group of policy analysts, practitioners, and scholars for a series of frank discussions. The sessions analyzed the nature of Islamic activism – including moderate political parties and militant extremists – and the options for policymakers to mitigate violence in a range of cases.

The main problem for the United States, participants concluded, is how to confront militant extremism while recognizing the importance of religious identity and the legitimate need in many countries for social and political reform. A foreword by William B. Quandt, Middle East expert and former National Security Council staff member, spells out how policymakers can respond most effectively to the challenge of Islamic activism.

Fair explores the true significance of the madrassah and its role in Pakistan’s educational system. She chronicles the Pakistan government’s efforts to reform the madrassah system and offers important policy implications and suggestions for initiatives that might address some of the main concerns emanating from ostensible ties between education and security inside and outside Pakistan.

The turmoil in Yugoslavia, the rebellions of the Kurds and Shi’is in Iraq, the ongoing struggle in South Africa—ethnic conflict continues unabated in many areas of the world.

To help us understand the persistence of such conflict, this pioneering work analyzes ethnopolitical conflict in every region of the globe. An ambitious and unprecedented effort, it provides a comprehensive survey of 233 politically active communal groups, plus in-depth assessments of ethnic tensions in the western democracies, the former Soviet bloc, the Middle East, and Africa.

By identifying these groups and examining their disadvantages and grievances, Minorities at Risk attempts to explain why disadvantaged groups mobilize, and it evaluates strategies that have successfully reduced ethnic conflict in the past, including autonomy, pluralism, and power sharing.

This provocative and well-written volume challenges conventional wisdom and raises the discussion about a widespread but little-understood phenomenon to a higher level.

Focusing on post-World War II American foreign policy and its intellectual architect, George Kennan, this volume explores the moral dimensions of realpolitik and the ethical dilemmas posed by present-day politics. Is Kennan responsible for persuading the U.S. foreign policy establishment that morality should go by the wayside? Or was Kennan right to regard as "presumptuous" the idea that Americans should tell other societies how to behave? Kennan gives his own influential view in an article reprinted here from Foreign Affairs (1985/96). (Workshop 6)

John Limbert steps up with a pragmatic yet positive assessment of how to engage Iran. Through four detailed case studies of past successes and failures, he draws lessons for today’s negotiators and outlines 14 principles to guide the American who finds himself in a negotiation—commercial, political, or other—with an Iranian counterpart.

The first in a series of volumes that examine pivotal states in the Muslim world, this timely work explores how, after a long period of isolation, Turkey is becoming a major player in Middle Eastern politics once again.

The clash between concepts of pacifism and perceptions of citizenship has long provoked fierce argument. Sparked by presentations from life-long pacifist Elise Boulding and political scientist Guenter Lewy, the debate in this volume is passionate and profound, ranging across such issues as the political role of pacifists and the character of American pacifism since World War II.

In this Perspectives Series volume, the United States Institute of Peace brings together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians and activists to debate the role of nonviolence in peacemaking and conflict resolution, yielding rare insight into the complexities of modern religious thought on justice and peace.

If, when, why, and how to fight a war? In the case of the Gulf War, that debate encompassed three faiths–Christianity, Islam, and Judaism–and the debate has acquired new dimensions in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the war on terrorism.

In this volume, Jews, Muslims, and Christians with very diverse views address such issues as the just war doctrine, explaining their differences and finding often surprising common ground. This new edition reprints the full text of the first edition. A new preface describes the differences and similarities between the Gulf War and the war against al Qaeda/Taliban. Also included is an introduction explaining the just war doctrine, a glossary of terms, and an expanded and updated "Suggestions for Further Reading."

For over two millennia, the Buddhists and Hindus of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) lived together in relative peace. But in the twentieth century, this small island republic off the coast of India has been wracked by recurrent violence and ethnic tension.

Especially since independence in 1948, the majority Sinhalese population, predominantly Buddhist, and the Tamil minority, mainly Hindu and some Muslims, have competed fiercely over questions of rate, language, religion, and political control. Several revisions of the constitution have failed to resolve these issues, and the post-independence period has witnessed horrific riots, guerrilla movements on both sides, and pro-government death squads, as well as a “peace-keeping effort” by Indian forces to try to protect the Tamil minority and to resolve the dispute.

What role does religion in fact play in the conflict, and what can be done to reduce the level of tension and violence in Sri Lanka? This volume addresses those questions by examining the sources of this intense conflict; the political, legal, and nongovernmental efforts at reconciliation; and the prospects for a settlement.