Today’s world is fractured along many lines, including religious ones. Whether trying to manage sectarian divisions in Iraq, respond to increasing immigration flows, or reduce extremism across the globe, policymakers are facing religion head on in their policy calculations. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ spring 2009 Chicago and the World Forum featured a range of distinguished speakers discussing the sensitive questions of if, how, and under what circumstances religious identities and issues should inform America’s global engagement. 

The Clash Within: Democracy and Religious Violence - May 19, 2009
Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago

Political Islam and the United States: A Necessary Engagement - May 6, 2009  
Emile Nakhleh, former Director, Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program, Directorate of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency

The U.S. and the World: The View From the Pews - April 29, 2009  
Luis Lugo, Director, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

Faith and Globalization - April 22, 2009
The Right Honorable Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

Reason, Religion, and Peace in a Global Society - March 31, 2009  
His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago

When Faiths Collide: Pluralism in the Twenty-First Century - February 18, 2009  
Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School

Audio files of all spring 2009 Chicago and the World Forum programs are also available on Chicago Amplified, Chicago Public Radio's web-based audio archive of public programs held throughout the Chicago region. Chicago Public Radio was a media sponsor of the spring 2009 Chicago and the World Forum.