PROGRAMS

The Hollings Center organizes conferences designed to promote mutual understanding between the United States and predominantly Muslim countries on a wide range of issues. Conferences generally are held in Istanbul, Turkey, and involve a maximum of thirty-five people to allow for vigorous dialogue and interaction among all participants. In total, twenty-five predominantly Muslim countries, along with several European countries and twenty-four states in the U.S., have been represented at Center programs to date. Participants are scholars, experts and practitioners from a diversity of professions and are leaders in their fields. To deepen the impact of dialogue, the Center awards small grants and fellowships to selected conference participants for follow-on initiatives.

Higher Education Dialogues
Universities can play a unique role as bridges of understanding between Muslim-majority societies and the United States. Relatively few partnerships exist between American colleges and universities and their counterparts in predominantly Muslim countries, but there is growing mutual interest in closer ties.  To help foster such ties, in late 2005 the Center launched a dialogue series for senior officials of higher education institutions in Muslim-majority countries and the United States.   

Two conferences have focused on independent, or private, colleges and universities, a sector in which international cooperation is especially under-developed. While such colleges and universities represent the oldest part of the American higher education system, their widespread emergence is a new, and significant, phenomenon in many Muslim-majority countries where state control of higher education has been the norm until recently. Many of these new universities are developing innovative approaches to teaching and learning and seek to emulate aspects of the American system while maintaining a strong indigenous identity.

In December 2005, the Center convened a distinguished group of independent college and university presidents and senior officials from Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. The dialogue explored the socio-economic factors that have led to the establishment of such universities throughout the Muslim world; how their missions differ from traditional approaches to higher education in their countries; their role in promoting civic awareness and economic development; the impact of American models on their development; and opportunities for partnership with American institutions. Read the report here.  Read an article by a conference participant here.

In January 2007, the Center held a second meeting in Istanbul involving university presidents, senior administrators and higher education experts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United States. Participants discussed American liberal arts education and the feasibility of adapting American-inspired liberal arts curricula to non-American settings; whether global standards of excellence in education exist or if quality should be measured according to each country's values and traditions; the high cost of education and the use of scholarships and financial aid to attract the best students; the role of philanthropy and alumni giving in sustaining independent universities; and best practices in independent college and university governance. The conference also generated a number of specific recommendations to expand international cooperation. Read the report here. Click here to read an article by a conference participant.

In March 2008 the Center, in conjunction with the Institute of International Education (IIE), convened a conference titled “Expanding American Study Abroad in the Arab World:  Challenges and Opportunities.” Study abroad is one of the best ways to deepen young Americans' understanding of the Middle East, and participants in the two earlier conferences had recommended convening a meeting dedicated to this issue. Even though just one percent of the approximately 225,000 American students studying overseas for credit annually go to Arab countries, in recent years the Middle East and North Africa has witnessed the greatest rate of increase for U.S. undergraduates studying abroad of any region of the world.  The conference, held at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, explored ways to diversify the base of programs across the Arab world and enhance their capacity to host American students.  Participants also discussed how to create high-quality programs that promote intercultural learning, build proficiency in different Arabic dialects and serve the needs of Arab and U.S. institutions alike. Representatives of nineteen Arab-world universities and study abroad programs and twelve U.S. sending institutions took part.  Conference report forthcoming. Click here to read an article about the conference in The Jordan Times.

Afghanistan Dialogues
Afghanistan is a pivotal state in the non-Arab Muslim world, serving as the crossroads of South, Central and Southwest Asia.  Since the U.S. invasion and toppling of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan’s future has been deemed of vital importance to the international community and especially to the United States. The goals of rebuilding Afghanistan’s government, establishing security and improving the economy have drawn international attention not only to Afghanistan’s internal conditions but also to its complex relationships with its neighbors—particularly Iran, Pakistan and the Central Asian Republics.

In May 2005 Afghan, Pakistani and American scholars met in Istanbul with support from the Center to probe the difficult relationship between the two neighboring countries. The discussions illuminated the historical basis of misunderstandings and generated ideas for dispute resolution, such as launching a collaborative tariff restructuring, establishing a joint agency to monitor opium growth and promote legal alternatives to it and conducting joint television programming. Read the report here.

In July 2007, in cooperation with the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (AIAS), the Center convened a follow-on conference in Istanbul that focused on the issue of the Durand Line, the disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan whose surrounding regions have become a haven for radical jihadist groups. Scholars, policy experts and current and former government officials from the two neighboring countries, the United States and several European countries took part. Sessions covered the political and legal history of the Durand Line; the social and economic impact of the Line on the peoples of the trans-border region; the current political, security and military situation in the border areas; and the future of the Durand Line, including the role of the United States. Read the report here.  Click here for a related article by a conference participant.

Despite Afghanistan's historic linkages with Central Asia to the north and the Iranian plateau in the west, there is a tendency today to view the country almost exclusively from a South Asian perspective. Kabul's relationship with Pakistan has overshadowed Afghanistan's relationship with its “other neighbors”—Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and China (Xinjiang Province). In July 2008, to promote a more holistic regional understanding of Afghanistan's past, present, and future, the Hollings Center and the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies convened in Istanbul a dialogue conference titled “Afghanistan's Other Neighbors: Iran, Central Asia and China.” Twenty six leading scholars, experts and policy professionals from Afghanistan, its neighbors, Europe, Turkey and the United States took part. Discussions explored Afghanistan’s Turko-Persian history; the significance of trans-national ethnicities, such as Hazara, Tajik and Uzbek; the impact of Afghan refugee populations in neighboring countries; Afghanistan's economic relationships with the Central Asian bloc and Iran; and the influence of Afghanistan's security situation on its neighbors to the north and west. Conference report forthcoming.

Iraq Dialogue
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, among the most pressing questions facing Iraq, its neighbors and the international community are whether post-Baathist Iraq can survive as a unified state and if Iraqis can forge a national identity that transcends ethnic and sectarian divisions, while acknowledging Iraq's diversity.  In October 2007, to explore these questions through both historical and contemporary lenses, the Hollings Center and The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII) hosted a conference in Istanbul titled “Unity and Diversity in Iraq: The Nation's Past and Future.” A multi-disciplinary group of specialists from Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as from France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, gathered to discuss the concepts of Iraqi identity in different historical periods, the perspectives of Iraq's neighbors regarding Iraqi unity, the impact of the current war (and in particular the refugee crisis) on their own politics and economies, and the future of Iraq as a unified state.

Caspian Sea Dialogue
The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world and a major source of oil and gas. The Sea is also a site of potential conflict due to growing demand for its resources and to the fact that its maritime boundaries and status under international law remain undefined. In cooperation with the Hollings Center, the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) convened in Istanbul in May 2006 the initial meeting of a Caspian dialogue series that IIASA is now pursuing. Based in Vienna, IIASA is an East-West research institute created during the first U.S.-U.S.S.R. detente in the late 1970s to provide nonpartisan expertise relevant to policy-making and international negotiations. The meeting provided a forum for dialogue among representatives of four of the Caspian littoral countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia) with participants from Canada, Europe, Turkey and the United States serving as facilitators and technical experts. Discussions tackled fisheries, the environment and maritime trade and safety—all important subjects and potential areas of cooperation for the Caspian states, yet less sensitive than the questions of legal regime and boundaries. Brainstorming on these topics fostered a problem-solving attitude that could help to prepare the terrain for constructive approaches to the boundary issue in the future. Read the report here.

Dialogue of Middle Eastern and Western Television Professionals
In February 2006, Search for Common Ground, with support from the Hollings Center, brought together leading television executives from the Gulf countries, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Participants discussed trends in Middle Eastern television, the challenges of covering the Israel-Arab conflict and television's role in promoting understanding and peace in the region. The meeting was part of Search for Common Ground’s Middle East Media Working Group series, established in 1994, and was the first in the series dedicated to broadcast media. Read the report here.

Small Grants and Fellowships
To deepen the impact of its dialogue programs, the Hollings Center awards small grants and fellowships to selected participants for collaborative follow-on initiatives involving research, professional development and exchanges. To date, small grants and fellowships have supported travel to related international conferences, exchange visits and follow-on meetings.