Mary Habeck of Johns Hopkins University looks at the theories backing jihadism and the practice of jihadism. She examines the differences between Islamist and Salafi groups that believe change can be achieved by social/political means and those that believe change can only be realized through violence—the Jihadi groups.
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Marc Sageman, forensic psychiatrist, discusses the importance of gathering actual solid evidence on terrorists, as human beings, and the difficulties present in collecting this information. He describes the information he gathered on a group of modern Salafi terrorists and the environment they came from.
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Michael Radu of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Homeland Security examines the definition of terrorism throughout history and around the globe—including how the media muddies the waters and how different nations and cultures today label certain acts as terrorism and refuse to label other actions as such.
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Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College and Barry Rubin of the Global Research in International Affairs Center explore the political turmoil currently taking place in the Middle East, including the rise to prominence of Islamists in politics. Gerges argues that the Islamist powers rise to fill a vacuum of legitimate political authority. Rubin emphasizes the importance of Arab nationalism in the region's internal and global politics and the staying power of some of the region's regimes.
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David Forte of Cleveland State University discusses the development of Islam away from its original written texts, arguing that the legal community, the needs of empire, and tribalism have distorted the religion's spiritual message, resulting in the current harsh treatment of apostates and religious minorities. He includes some comparison of Islam's development to that of Christianity and Judaism.
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Jytte Klausen of Brandeis University and Michael Radu of the FPRI Center on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Homeland Security discuss the history and identity of Islam and Muslims in Europe, examining the differences in identity, political activity, and acceptance of Muslims in Europe and in the U.S.
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S. Abdallah Schleifer of the Washington News Bureau, Al Arabiya, compares and contrasts the interpretations of Islam that lead to Islamism and that lead to coexistence with or under other political systems. He focuses particularly on defining what, precisely, Islamism is and what adherents to the ideology believe.
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Shelley Rigger of Davidson College outlines what she believes all U.S. students should know about Taiwan, looking also at how the media represents Taiwan internally and globally. On October 21-22, 2006, FPRI's Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education hosted 50 teachers from 26 states across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching about China. The History Institute, held in Kenosha, WI, was cosponsored by the Clausen Center for World Business, Carthage College.
Walter A. McDougall, Co-chair of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's History Institute for Teachers explores the U.S. attitude towards war—in which the nation simultaneously claims to be peace-loving and finds itself seeking out or being drawn into conflicts time after time.
Brian McAllister Linn of Texas A&M University examines the importance of many of the less-memorialized, smaller-scale, and less often taught military actions in U.S. history. He looks at how military tactics have been adapted to local conditions in these wars and the varying success of these adaptations (and failures to adapt).