Ben O'Loughlin and Courtney Beale, National Security Council, will lead a debate on 21 April 2016 in Washington DC titled, Countering Violent Extremism: Towards a New Era of Peacebuilding. The event is hosted by the British Council and New York University. This is the final debate in a series, Iconoclash, featuring Salman Rushdie, Tasoula Hadjitofi, and Slavoj Zizek.

Details:

Thursday, April 21, 2016, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Countering Violent Extremism - Towards a New Era of Peacebuilding

New York University, 1307 L St. NW, Washington, DC 20005 (Metro: McPherson Square)

To RSVP click here.

The panel series Iconoclash has been an enquiry into cultural and value systems connected with terrorism in the Middle East and the West. The project aims to better understand the cultural complexity and role of media in the rise of Islamic extremism, as well as the roles we all play. Extremists’ conquests of regions and cities, whereby they harm people, annihilate memory, remap geopolitics and impose apocalyptic imagery and narratives, universalizes their idea of order and submission. Their apocalyptic imagery and declamations are propagated through social media and have gained international attraction and relevance. To overcome the persisting threat requires more than military hardware. But what is actually needed to achieve lasting peace in this region of the world and with its inhabitants?

This final panel provides an overview of the lessons learned from over twenty years of interacting with Islamic fundamentalism. How do we bridge the gaps in trust and understanding? How do we build dialogue and cooperation on an equal level? What can the arts or other means of cultural interaction contribute to overcoming the bottleneck of dialogue? How can we successfully use social media for such ends?