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Since the rise of anti-Islamic, anti-immigration populist movements and the gruesome terrorist attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, this topic figures prominently on the international agenda.

At the same time, this narrative of two conflicting entities is also gaining more and more popularity in the Arab world that is struggling with rising radicalism. On both sides, this over-simplistic discourse is grounded in prejudices, grievances and the lack of understanding for “the other’s” belief and values.

In light of these developments, the quest to build bridges through dialogue between Islam and the West is becoming even more important. By bringing together decision-makers, scholars, and leading voices from civil society from Europe and the Arab world, the conference aims at demystifying these phenomena and fostering mutual understanding.

A broad range of topics will be discussed during the two-day conference, such as differences and similarities in the interpretation of limits to freedom of expression, the real motivation behind Europe’s populist right-wing movements, the increased rise of radical movements in the Muslim world and what it means to be a young European Muslim.

The upcoming conference is already the fourth fruitful cooperation between Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Gulf Studies Center at the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University.