American Culture and the Muslim World

When President Obama entered office, expectations were raised for a new political era. Abroad, millions more looked forward to America’s recommitment to engagement and consultation with the rest of the world. His speech in Cairo on June 4th 2009 was considered an outreach to the Muslim world of huge proportions. However, a year later the Muslim world’s confidence in Obama has slipped dramatically. President Obama gave several major speeches to repair the damaged relations with the Muslim world, but without noticeable success. If one wants to look into the causes of this  development, it seems as if one of the most elusive challenges that Americans  face today  is coming to terms with the cultural dimension of their encounter with the Muslim world:  Americans fail to appreciate how their cultural values affect their relations with Muslims around the globe...

Speaker:
Peter Skerry, Professor of Political Science at Boston College and  Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution

Discussant: tbc
           
Moderator:
Claude Weinber, director Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union,  Brussels