24th Annual Conference
A World Order Without Democracy?
U.S. Strategy and Political Change in the
Muslim World
Friday, May 15, 2026
Georgetown University
Capitol Campus
Washington, DC 20001
TENTATIVE PROGRAM
8:30 - 8:45 am Registration & Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00 am Opening Remarks
Prof. Asma Afsaruddin
Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures,
Indiana University Bloomington
Chair, CSID Board of Directors
Salam al-Marayati
President, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
9:00 AM
Keynote Speech
What Does It Mean to Defend Human Rights in an Age that Normalizes Colonial Tendencies
and Authoritarianism?
Bahey eldin Hassan
Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
9:30 - 10:30 AM - PANEL 1:
Democratic backsliding and stalled reform:
The Case for Democracy and Peaceful Reforms
Moderator:
Authoritarianism, the “Great Fall” of the International Legal Order, and Transnational Policy Alternatives in the Middle East, David Mednicoff, Professor of Public Policy and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
What Next for Human Rights Promotion in the Arab Region? - Neil Hicks, Senior Director, Institutional Response, Human Rights First
U.S. Strategy, India, and the Limits of Order Without Democracy - Ammar Mansuri, Student in Finance and Political Science, worked as intern on Capitol Hill and as judicial intern in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Can Democracy Prevent Extremism? Murad Batal, Resident Senior Fellow at the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) and member of the editorial committee of Alpheratz.
10:30 - 12:00 AM - PANEL 2:
Islam, pluralism, and governance:
Is Shariah Law compatible with Democracy?
Moderator:
Islam, Pluralism, and Democratic Governance: A Reformist Perspective, Mustafa Akyol, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity,
Cato Institute, Columnist, The New York Times
Democratic Safeguards in Islamic Political Thought: Shaykh Muḥammad Mahdī Shams al-Dīn, Ali Dabaje, Program Coordinator for the Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Defending Democracy in the Muslim World: A Path to Justice, Stability, and Prosperity, Irma Makharadze, Independent Researcher, Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa
12:00 - 1:30 PM - Keynote Luncheon
Keynote Speakers:
Sen. Chris Van Hollen
United States Senator (D-Maryland)
Sen. Chris Murphy
United States Senator (D-Connecticut)
(invited)
1:30 - 3:00 PM - PANEL 3
Country case studies:
Future of Democracy in Syria, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, and Iran
Moderator:
U.S. Strategy and the Collapse of Political Order in Libya, Ammar Elahi, Executive Director of the Muslim Action Coalition (MAC), an organization focused on civic engagement and public policy advocacy.
Delegated Stabilization in Syria: Order with Conditional Accountability, Sulaiman Ali, Senior Foreign & Government Policy Advisor for AK Party USA, former Community Manager of Muslim Advocates & Community Liaison for the New York City Mayor’s Office
Tunisia and the Strategic Limits of “Order-First” U.S. Policy, Ghazi Ben Ahmed, Founder, Mediterranean Development Initiative
Opportunities in Post-Assad Syria and the Gaza Ceasefire, Madi Ibrahim, PhD researcher affiliated with CEDS Paris and a policy-oriented analyst focusing on Türkiye and the Middle East.
3:00 - 4:00 PM - PANEL 4
Israel, Gaza, and Palestine:
The future of Peace in the Middle East
Moderator:
Stability at What Cost? U.S. Security Policy and the Future of the Middle East, Josh Paul, Former Director, Congressional and Public Affairs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State
U.S. Support for “Governance-by-Exception” in Israel/Palestine, and Why It Keeps Producing Insecurity, Shannan Rawcliffe, anthropologist, MA. From Rutgers University
4:00 PM
Keynote Speech
Humanity at a Crossroads:
Islam, Democracy, and the Future of World Order
Prof. Akbar Ahmed
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies,
School of International Service, American University
Former Pakistani High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
4:30 PM
Closing Remarks
TBD
Co-Sponsored by:
Middle East Policy Council
Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU)
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
Islamic Relief (IR)
