The Institute for Global Engagement and Nyack College’s Institute for Public Service & Policy Development invite you to a public presentation and panel featuring Dr. Andrea Bartoli to explore Christians’ positive and negative contributions toward the Middle East conflict. Respondents will include voices from the three Abrahamic traditions.

The event will take place the evening of 20 May in the Hart Senate Office Building, Room 902, near the U.S. Capitol. The reception begins at 6:30pm; the presentation begins at 7:00pm and is followed by a time for responses and Q & A. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP at dcoffice@nyack.edu or 202-220-1300.

Dr. Bartoli will address fresh approaches to conflict resolution in the Middle East. The problem of violence has often plagued the process of state formation. A series of wars between nations, an ongoing intifada, and terrorist attacks against soft targets among the civil populations has kept the Israeli and Palestinian population at a high state of alert for over 60 years. Typically, military response to an attack has led to a repeated cycle of violent acts, with both sides hurling recriminations against the other. Is there any way out of this cycle? What can the global Christian church do to help bring peace? Are there any new and fresh responses to conflict resolution in the Middle East?

Dr. Andrea Bartoli has been the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution’s Drucie French Cumbie Chair at George Mason University since 2007. He works primarily on Peacemaking and Genocide Prevention. He has held many distinguished leadership positions, including Founding Director of Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR), Senior Research Scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University and at the University of Siena. He is a member of the Dynamical Systems and Conflict Team and a Board member of Search for Common Ground. He has published books and articles on violence, migrations, and conflict resolution and was co-editor of Somalia, Rwanda and Beyond: The Role of International Media in Wars and International Crisis (1995).

This event is the third in a three-part series. On 17 March, Michael Gerson addressed “Faith or Fanaticism?” and on 29 April, E.J. Dionne presented on “Cries for Justice.” The series provides an opportunity for diverse Christian perspectives to interact with each other, along with invited Jewish and Muslim voices to help enrich the conversation. The series title suggests ways forward while recognizing how the Christian community broadly has both helped and hindered efforts to ease the conflict.