In a new working paper series from The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast, Distinguished Professor and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed and his co-authors Frankie Martin and Dr. Amineh Hoti promote an initiative for interfaith dialogue at a time of intense stress and conflict between religions and peoples.

These three interconnected articles on global peace, published by one of the world’s leading institutes dedicated to global peace, reflect the founding philosophy of SIS, which was established in 1957 to answer President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s call to prepare students of international affairs to “wage peace.”

The papers focus on three global spiritual leaders representing the three Abrahamic faiths who have promoted interfaith dialogue in a time of war and violence: Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a compassionate Christian scholar; Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom who built bridges of peace; and Haris Silajdžić, the Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina who served as an ambassador of peace between Islam and the West. Ambassador Ahmed and his co-authors, committed to building bridges and promoting understanding, interviewed each of the spiritual leaders in depth in their own environments to better understand how each of them have all grappled with the interfaith and intercultural harmony challenges of the twenty-first century and what insight they have into how to overcome such challenges.

Professor Richard English, the Director of the Mitchell Institute, highlights the importance of the papers: "The relationship between religious leadership, conflict and peace is a crucial and often misunderstood one. These original articles offer valuable and fascinating reflection on this major subject and the Mitchell Institute is delighted to host them."

“Three Global Spiritual Leaders in a Time of War and Violence” is adapted from the authors' forthcoming study, The Mingling of the Oceans: How Civilizations Can Live Together, which is a group of people in history described as "Minglers," who have embraced those not of their group—their religion, race, ethnicity, nation, or tribe—and how they did so.

You can read Ambassador Ahmed’s paper here.