Two Americas, Two Islams: A Geo-Political Tug-of-War
Numbers are a curious thing. As an old adage has it: “There are three types of lies—lies, damn lies, and statistics.” When it comes to Islam in America,...
Abbas Barzegar, Ph.D. is a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University’s Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and a term-member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In collaboration with the British Council and The European Commission, he currently directs the interdisciplinary research initiative entitled “Civic Approaches to Conflict Resolution in the Muslim World” which convenes cross-sector dialogues that explore best practices in community-led strategies of mitigating conflict and developing civil society institution in and around the MENA region. His previous research includes documenting the history of African American Muslim groups in the 1970s and 1980s, the intellectual history of political Islam, and early formations of the Sunni-Shiite conflict. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, he is the co-author of Islamism: Contested Perspectives on Political Islam (Stanford, 2009). His work has been supported by The European Union, The British Council, The US Institute of Peace (USIP), the Mellon Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). His commentary and analysis can be found in a variety of print and broadcast media outlets, including CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, Huffington Post, and Aljazeera.