20170114 International Conference on Religion and Politics - Part2

Date/Time: Saturday 14th – Sunday 15th January 2017 Venue: Pullman Hotel, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur Jointly Organized by: Islamic Renaissance Front, Ferdowsi Institute of Science and Research, and Asia West-East Institute In Collaboration with: Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, National University of Malaysia (UKM) As a geopolitical strategic region, West Asia has always been familiar with crises but it is now confronting socio-cultural and structural transformations, and new challenges and realities. From the long-standing conflict in the occupied Palestine to the recent social movements in the Arab countries to the return of a military regime in Egypt, the outbreak of war in Yemen, the recent coup d’état in Turkey, the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the practice and spread of Muslim extremism, and the consequent state fragmentation and occasional collapse, sectarian conflicts, stifled civil societies, economic devastation, soaring unemployment, and the massive exodus of refugees all have largely replaced hope with despair, and sanguinity for peace and prosperity in the region with uncertainty.