Are we winning the fight against al-Qaeda? Reflections five years later

Juan R.I. Cole, Professor of Middle East and South Asian History, University of Michigan.

Professor Cole has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Since the 2002 launch of his weblog, 'Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion,' Cole has become a prominent media commentator and has published political writings in The Guardian, the San Jose Mercury News, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Nation. His books include 'Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam' (I.B. Tauris, 2002.)

This lecture was supported by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy's Josh Rosenthal Education Fund. The Fund was created in memory of Josh Rosenthal, a 1979 U-M graduate who died at the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. The fund supports lectures, research, and student internships that encourage public discussion and greater understanding of changes in the world since 9/11.

Our Voices Together

The lecture was accompanied by 'Build a More Compassionate World,' an information fair hosted by the U-M Office of the Provost and by Our Voices Together (OVT), a non-profit, non-partisan organization of 9/11 families.