The Speaker

Stephen Schwartz is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, DC. He has pursued a long literary and journalistic career, having published seven books on modern political history, with special attention to extremism. Since the 1960s he has been a student of Sufism and, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, his extensive and authoritative writings on the phenomenon of Wahhabism established him as one of the leading experts on Islam, its internal divisions, and its relations with other faiths. His book on Saudi Wahhabism The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role In Terrorism (Doubleday, 2002) was a bestseller. His articles have been printed in the world's major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and many more.

Abstract

Beginning in 1979, the Saudi state and the Wahhabi clerical establishment began an accelerated campaign to propagate Saudi-style Wahhabism to Sunni Muslims throughout the world. In the aftermath of the establishment of the Taliban regime, with the successful permeation of Wahhabi agents into major Western cities, and with the specific regional goal of expanding the area of satellite control in Central Asia from Afghanistan into the ex-Soviet Muslim republics, al-Qaida, the most extreme form of Wahhabism, launched its jihad, beginning in Tajikistan, Algeria, and Egypt, and spreading to Bosnia-Hercegovina, Israel, Chechnya, and finally the U.S., Indonesia, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, and Britain, while also returning to Saudi Arabia where it originated and emerging in Iraq.

However, looking at events since the onset of the global Wahhabist campaign, I want to argue that the campaign has failed. The majority of the world's Muslims remain moderate, traditional, and uninterested in joining the Wahhabi campaign.

ISEAS has the pleasure of inviting you to the Seminar.

By Fax: 6775-6264 / 6775-6259

The Seminar Co-ordinator
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Singapore 119614

I will be able to attend the Seminar on Global Wahhabism and its Consequences by Mr Stephen Schwartz on Tuesday, 6 September 2005 at 10.00 am in ISEAS Seminar Room II.

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Please complete the Reply Form and return by fax to the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies or email: betty@iseas.edu.sg by Monday, 5 September 2005. For further enquiries, please call Betty at Tel: 6870-2472/6778-0955.

Notes:       1.     All registrations are on a first-come-first served basis, and will be taken as confirmed unless otherwise notified.

2.         Parking is available at the Heng Mui Keng Complex Carpark, located next to ISEAS Building.  At the carpark, please take the lift to LEVEL 6 (Lobby) and exit through the main entrance to ISEAS Building.  

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