At least five people are dead following two days of religious clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in the central Myanmar city of Meikhtila. (Sources: New York Times, Washington Post)

Analysts Available for Comment

Robert A. F. “Tenzin” Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of Tibet House US, the President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences. The New York Times recently hailed him as “the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”

CONTACT:robert.thurman@theglobalexperts.org
Location: New York, USA
Language: English, French, Tibetan
 
 
Dr. Anna Halafoff is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation (CCG) at Deakin University, the co-coordinator of The Australian Sociological Association’s (TASA) Sociology of Religion Thematic Group, and the secretary for the Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR).  Anna is an expert in the fields of multifaith relations, religion and peace building.
CONTACT: anna.halafoff@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Melbourne, Australia,
Language: English, Russia
 
 
Catharin Dalpino is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and a former Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is an expert on Southeast Asian security, regional relations and domestic politics.
CONTACT: catharin.dalpino@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Washington D.C., USA
Language: English
 
 
Charu Lata Hogg is a Fellow of the Asia Programme at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. She has led research on cross-cutting political and human rights issues in South Asia, Afghanistan and Myanmar during work with Chatham House. She is the former South Asia Researcher for Human Rights Watch, and has worked in India and Sri Lanka for over 12 years.
CONTACT: charu.hogg@theglobalexperts.org
Location: London, U.K.
Languages: English, Hindi
 
 

Abdulaziz Sachedina is a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia and is an expert in interfaith relations and religious affairs, especially related to Islam.
CONTACT: abdulaziz.sachedina@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Middle East, North America
Languages: Arabic, English, French
 
 

Dr. Farish A. Noor is the Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University; where he is part of the research cluster ‘Transnational Religion in Southeast Asia’. His weekly columns appear in several regional newspapers in Southeast and South Asia. Dr. Noor has also been a radio essayist for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio.
CONTACT: farish.noor@theglobalexperts.com
Location: Singapore
Languages: English, French, Indonesian
 
 
Dr. William F. Vendley has served as Secretary General of Religions for Peace since 1994. He serves as the organization’s chief executive officer, overseeing the international secretariat in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. He has led negotiations that have helped to prevent conflicts from developing, mediate peace among warring parties and rebuild societies in the aftermath of violence across the world.
CONTACT: william.vendley@religionsforpeace.org
Location: New York
Languages: English
 
 
 

MEDIA ALERT: Jorge Mario Bergoglio Elected New Pope

Catholic Cardinals elected new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aires,Wednesday afternoon in Vatican  City.  He is the first South American pope to be elected.

Analysts Available for Comment

Maria José Rosado-Nunes is a graduate professor of sociology of religion and feminist studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. She is currently a researcher at the National Researcher Center (CNPq).

Dr. Eboo Patel is the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit working to build mutual respect and pluralism among religiously diverse young people by empowering them to work together to serve others.

Rene Guitton is an author of books, theater and television scripts. Along with his day job, this relentless traveler with a degree in journalism, who studied theology and exegesis, is currently doing research on today’s major monotheistic religions, on philosophy and various schools of thought.

Dr. William F. Vendley has served as Secretary General of Religions for Peace since 1994.

Pakistani Christians took to the streets of Lahore on Sunday to protest a rash of violence against their community over the weekend. (Sources: New York Times, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post)

Analysts available for comment:

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., and the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain.

CONTACT: akbar.ahmed@theglobalexperts.org

Location: North America

Languages: English; French; Pashto; Urdu

Christophe Jaffrelot, Ph.D. is a French political scientist and expert on South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan. He is the former director of CERI at SciencesPo in Paris, France’s foremost center for research on international politics, and served in this role from 2002-8.

CONTACT: christophe.jaffrelot@theglobalexperts.org

Location: West Europe

Languages: English; French

Samina Ahmed, Ph.D. is South Director of the International Crisis Group. She oversees the group’s work in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal. Her team focuses on political, security and stability issues in South Asia, like Islamic extremism, domestic and regional terrorism, domestic insurgencies and the risk of inter-state conflict.

CONTACT: samina.ahmed@theglobalexperts.org

Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

Language: English, Urdu

Hassan Abbas, Ph.D. is a former Pakistani government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1995-6) and President Pervez Musharraf (1999-2000). He is currently the Quaid-i-Azam chair and professor at Columbia University’s South Asia Institute.

CONTACT: hassan.abbas@theglobalexperts.org

Location: North America

Languages: English; Panjabi; Urdu

Naveed Ahmad is a journalist at Gulf News in Islamabad, Pakistan. He served as a Geo News Correspondent for many years and worked with multiple media agencies around the world. Ahmad specializes in investigative reporting on security affairs, civil-military relations, diplomacy, energy and religion.

CONTACT: naveed.ahmad@theglobalexperts.org

Language: English

Rene Guitton is an author of books, theater and television scripts. Along with his day job, this relentless traveler with a degree in journalism, who studied theology and exegesis, is currently doing research on today’s major monotheistic religions, on philosophy and various schools of thought.

CONTACT:rene.guitton@theglobalexperts.org

Location: Paris, France

Languages: English, French

After 14 years in office, the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, died at age 58 on March 5. According to the Venezuelan constitution, there should be an election held within the next 30 days to decide who will succeed Chávez. (Sources: ABC, New York Times, USA Today)

Analysts available for comment:

Markus Schultze-Kraft heads and manages the Latin America and Caribbean program for the International Crisis Group. He is the former coordinator of the Observation Unit in the Colombia office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Contact: markus.sk@theglobalexperts.org
Location: New York
Languages: English, Spanish

Dr. Frances Negrón-Muntaner is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and scholar. She is the director of Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.
Contact: frances.negronmuntaner@theglobalexperts.org
Location: New York
Languages:English, Spanish

John Marks is the president and founder of Search for Common Ground, a non-profit conflict resolution NGO with offices in 18 countries. He also founded and heads Common Ground Productions.
Contact:m.javedanfar@theglobalexperts.org
Location:Washington D.C.
Language: English

Michele Wucker is Executive Director of the World Policy Institute, a nonpartisan center for progressive global policy research and thought leadership which publishes the widely cited and highly respected quarterly magazine, World Policy Journal. She is a specialist on Latin American and Caribbean politics, particularly in Haiti, Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

Contact:michele.wucker@theglobalexperts.org
Location: New York
Language: English, Spanish

William Powers hails from Long Island, NY and has worked for over a decade in development aid and conservation in Latin America, Africa, Washington, D.C., and Native North America. He is currently based in New York City, and is a freelance writer, speaker, and senior fellow at the the World Policy Institute.

Contact: william.powers@theglobalexperts.org
Location: New York
Language: English, Spanish, German

Damascus, Syria – At least 53 people are dead and at least 200 are wounded after a car bomb exploded between the Syrian president’s headquarters and the Russian Embassy, Thursday afternoon.  This attack comes three days after Syrian officials announced its willingness to conduct talks with armed opposition groups. (Sources: New York Times, BBC, CNN, CBS)

Analysts available for comment:

Iason Athanasiadis  is a photojournalist, documentary film-maker and international lecturer working on the intersection of the Eastern Mediterranean with the Arab, Persian and Turkic Middle East and Central Asia. He has covered some of the contemporary region’s signature crises, including the 2011 Arab revolts, the 2010 Afghan surge, the Greek economic crisis, the 2009 Iranian pro-democracy movement, the 2006 Lebanese war, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and the passing of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in 2000. Iason has lived in Cairo, Damascus, Sanaa and Tehran. He is currently based between Istanbul and Kabul.
CONTACT iason.athanasiadis@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Istanbul, Kabul
Language: Arabic, English, Greek, Persian, Turkish

Dr. Paul Sullivan is a professor of economics at the National Defense University and an adjunct professor of Security Studies and Science, Technology and International Affairs at Georgetown University. At Georgetown University, he teaches classes on global energy and security, energy security in the Middle East, and natural resources and conflict in Africa and the Middle East. Recently, he wrote an exclusive article for Global Experts on Tunisia.
CONTACT: paul.sullivan@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Washington D.C.
Language: English

Dr. John L. Esposito is an expert in religion and international affairs, particularly within the context of the Middle East. A consultant to the Department of State as well as corporations, universities, and the media worldwide, Professor Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam, and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia.
CONTACT: john.esposito@theglobalexperts.org
Location: North America
Languages: English

Tuomo Melasuo is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies as well as Research Director of TAPRI, Tampere Peace Research Institute, University of Tampere, Finland. He has studied contemporary political history as well as political science and international relations in Finland and in France. Professor Melasuo is specialized on North Africa.
CONTACT: tuomo.melasuo@theglobalexperts.org
Location: West Europe
Languages: English, Finnish, French

Abdallah Schleifer, Ph.D. is a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East for American and Arab media for more than thirty years. He is Professor Emeritus at the American University in Cairo. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has praised Professor Schleifer as “a great bridge-builder between cultures”, saying “we Middle East correspondents are something of a fraternity and Abdallah has always been a credit to our little club. He is intensely independent, honest, and a wonderful explainer about both Islam and the Arab world.”
CONTACT: abdallah.schleifer@theglobalexperts.org
Location: Middle East
Language: English

TUNIS, TUNISIA – Tunisian citizens and police clash during Tunisian Opposition Leader Chokri Belaid’s funeral, Friday. There are reports of burning vehicles and anti-government chants. Police are using tear gas to control the crowds. Belaid was assassinated Wednesday outside his home. He was a left-wing politician who strongly opposed the predominately Islamist government in Tunisia. (Sources: Huffington Post/New York Times/Al Jazeera English)

Analysts available for comment: