Spanning five continents, megacities present numerous economic, demographic, and environmental challenges and opportunities. Those opportunities may differ in scope, but are shared in essence across the board. As such, they present a timely topic for international dialogue and cross-cultural collaboration. In an effort to discuss the opportunities and challenges within megacities, the Hollings Center for International Dialogue conducted a dialogue conference in Jakarta in July 2019. The dialogue featured researchers, urban planners, municipal officials, journalists, architects, and environmentalists representing Baghdad, Cairo, Dhaka, Istanbul, Jakarta, Lahore, Los Angeles, and New York.

The MENA region face great challenges of social integration and economic diversification. The region hosts an unprecedented number of refugees. And while there are many entrepreneurship and livelihood programs in the region, there is a need for sustainable economic solutions for these marginalized communities.

The political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa in 2018 is a terrain deeply hostile to nurturing the seeds of democracy planted so spectacularly just seven years prior during the momentous events of the Arab Uprisings. The region today seems characterized above all by violence, instability, social tension, renewed authoritarianism, and humanitarian crisis. […]

Africa in recent years has attracted the attention of new global actors such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf states, due to its growing markets, vast natural resources, and geostrategic importance. Non-state actors from the Middle East have also taken an interest in Africa by establishing religious and […]

Numerous studies and efforts seek to understand the conditions in which Da’esh ideology and message spreads, in other words the “root causes” of extremism. Despite these efforts, there is room for more dialogue regarding how communities, civil society, and state apparatuses deal with these root causes. Looking at community-based, local solutions to radicalization as well […]

For any observer of Taliban reign in Afghanistan, the images of the collapsing Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 must be emblematic of the high price of war and extremism on humankind’s common cultural past. Likewise, for the current generation that is witnessing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history, the explosion of Palmyra is an […]

Violent extremism has been a predominant regional and global security challenge for several decades, but in recent years, it has become more attractive to disenfranchised people all over the world. A combination of theology, political ideology and media savvy messaging make groups like Daesh, Al Qaeda and al Shabab relevant and uniquely positioned to broadcast […]