Experts on U.S.-Islamic Relations Join Brookings

Mohamed Abdul Muqtedar Khan and Abdelwahab Ahmed Mohamed El-Affendi Osman have joined the Brookings Institution as visiting fellows.

Khan and El-Affendi are affiliated with the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World, which is part of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. The Islamic World project was established to respond to challenges the United States will face in the coming years, both in the continuing war on global terrorism and in promoting positive relations with the wider Islamic world, including Muslim states and movements in Africa; South, Southeast, and Central Asia; Europe; and the Middle East.

“We are absolutely delighted to have two scholars of this caliber joining us at such a critical moment in relations between the United States and the Islamic world,” said Martin S. Indyk, director of the Saban Center and the former assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs. “Muqtedar Khan and Adelwahab El-Affendi are two well-known and well-respected Muslim intellectuals who are exploring some of the most important issues in international affairs today. They will provide a wealth of scholarly experience, as well as their unique perspectives, to the Washington policy community.”

At Brookings, Khan will research new strategies to repair relations between the United States and the Islamic world, and El-Affendi will explore the political challenges of supporting democratization in the Islamic world. Both scholars will also provide expertise on other issues involved in relations between the United States and Muslim states and communities, including the war on terrorism and peace processes in the Middle East and South Asia.

Before joining Brookings, Khan was director of the International Studies Program at Adrian College in Michigan. He has a Ph.D. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Bombay University. He has written for numerous periodicals and journals, including the Washington Post, the Palestine Times, and Security Dialogues, and is the author of American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom (Amana Publications, 2002).

El-Affendi was coordinator of the Project on Democracy in the Muslim World at the University of Westminster in London. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Reading in England and a B.A. from the University of Khartoum (Sudan). His articles have appeared in publications including Al Hayat and the Journal of Democracy. His most recent book is Islamic Movements and Their Impact on Stability in the Arab World (Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies, 2002).

Khan will be at Brookings until January 2004, El-Affendi until November 2003. Both scholars’ fellowships are funded in part by the Ford Foundation.