Category: Dr. Ahmad’s blog

[On April 24, 2025 the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations held a YouTube webinar on “A Post-Assad Syria: Dilemmas, Diplomacy, and a New Strategic Vision?” The following are our takeaways of high points of that workshop and is not intended as a verbatim transcript. The entire webinar may be seen here.] Timothy Lenderking (Senior Bureau…

[On March 13, 2025 the Syria Strategy Project (Middle East Institute, the European Institute of Peace, and the Atlantic Council) held a Zoom workshop on their recently released report “Reimagining Syria: A Roadmap for Peace and Prosperity Beyond Assad”. The following are our takeaways of high points of that workshop and is not intended as…

[On February 3, 2025 the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft held a panel discussion on “Jordan and the Annexation of the West Bank.” The following are our takeaways of high points of that program and is not intended as a verbatim transcript. The entire panel discussion may be seen here.] Marwan Muasher (vice president for…

[On Thursday, January 30, the US Institute for Peace (USIP) and the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy (IRCD) hosted a conversation reflecting on the history and legacy of religious engagement in peace-building, moderated by Palwasha Kakar, Acting Director, USIP, Religion and Inclusive Societies Program. The following are our takeaways of high points of that…

[On Monday, October 28, 2024, The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, in partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the African Studies Program, Georgetown University Qatar, and the Institute for the Study of International Migration hosted a lecture by Francesca Albanese, international legal scholar and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human…

[On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy held a conference on “Democracy Denied: Political, Human Rights, and Policy Implications for the Arab/Muslim World.” These are our takeaways of high points of the conference. Most of conference may be viewed here.] Panel 1: “The Israel-Gaza War: Implications for Democracy…

A Statement on the Role of the US in Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza[1] With Israeli war crimes in Gaza mounting into what the International Court of Justice has declared a “plausible genocide,” the Board of Directors of the Minaret of Freedom Institute (MFI) finds it necessary to supplement its previous October 2023 statement[2] on…

[On February 20, 2024, the Libyan American Alliance held a discussion commemorating the revolution that deposed Muammar Qaddafi. Speakers included Amb. Keith Harper, the former U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (2014-2017) and Christopher “Kip” Hale, Chief of Staff – Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) for Ukraine and  former…

Three university presidents found themselves unable to explain to members of a House committee the difference between reprehensible but protected free speech and terrorist actions.  Perhaps they should have given an extreme example, such as the following: “If a person holding a position with the university were to attempt to argue that the mass killing…

Statement on the Gaza-Israel War We at the Minaret of Freedom Institute are committed to speaking truth and advancing liberty for all people. We do not employ armaments, but ideas.  We speak the truth to academics, policy researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the general public with the information necessary for honesty, justice, and liberty to prevail. …