October 9 2007

Washington, D.C.—for immediate release

Building on the success of last year’s first-ever conference in Southeast Asia on “Religion and the Rule of Law,” the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) is privileged once again to work with the Vietnam-USA Society (VUS), the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), and Brigham Young University in co-sponsoring this second conference: “Religion and the Rule of Law: Continuing the Discussion.” The conference will be held at VASS in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 3-4 November 2007.

This unprecedented conference series creates and expands a public square where regional and international scholars and lawyers can discuss issues of religion, culture, law, and national security. This year’s conference deepens the dialogue regarding practical policy through comparative analysis and a free exchange of opinions.

The conference is co-sponsored by IGE, VUS, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, and VASS, which is also the host.

This conference series results from the September 2006 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IGE and VUS. This MOU encourages people-to-people diplomacy between the U.S. and Vietnam and strengthens the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relationship by working together to promote sustainable religious freedom.

IGE has also facilitated an observer delegation of American mega-church pastors and businessmen to attend the conference before they travel to Vietnam’s Northwest to interact with and learn from government officials and religious leaders there.

For the conference schedule and participant information, click on the pdf link. Please direct all questions to IGE’s Press Officer, Amy McDowell/703.527.2007.