Hillary Clinton to Speak at U.S. Islamic Forum Feb 13-15

Hillary will speak at the forum and Obama will announce, via video, a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join H.E. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, in addressing the Seventh Annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum, held in Doha from February 13 through February 15. President Barack Obama, speaking via video, will send a special message to the annual gathering of U.S. and Muslim world officials. Addressing the opening plenary session will be Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry. U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke will also speak to the Forum.

The U.S.-Islamic World Forum, organized by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, brings together leaders from across the Muslim world for an intensive three-day dialogue with key U.S. officials, societal leaders, and policy experts.

“With President Obama determined to turn the page in America’s relations with Muslim communities around the globe, this year’s Forum will examine how to craft more robust partnerships that can help repair the deep divisions our societies” said Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution, who is also attending this year’s Forum.

Established in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, the Forum has built meaningful networks of American and Muslim representatives across the societal spectrum from arts and culture to science and technology, business, education and religious leaders in more than thirty countries. In this way, the Forum has become a unique convening opportunity for cross-cultural engagement among the public and private sectors from the United States and the Muslim World.

This year’s U.S.-Islamic World Forum, entitled “Writing the Next Chapter,” will focus on the new opportunities created by the changing global political and economic landscape and the promise of President Obama’s pledge to build new bridges to the Muslim world. The 2010 Forum’s working sessions will discuss how to build on the Obama administration’s “fresh start” with Muslim communities around the globe, the potential for strengthening private and public sector partnerships, and how to deal with the security challenges posed by terror groups operating in fragile states in the Muslim World.

“With a new American president, we have an opportunity to turn the page in America’s relations with Muslim communities around the globe. In keeping with the spirit of the President Obama’s Cairo speech, this year’s Forum will look at the question of how we craft more robust partnerships that redound to the benefit of all,” said Stephen Grand, co-convener of the Forum and the Director of Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World. More on the forum here