Mohammed Abu-Nimer is an American expert on

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

and dialogue for peace. He is a full professor at the American University School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, the largest school of

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Overview

Abu-Nimer an expert on conflict resolution, and dialogue for peace. As a professor with over 20 years of teaching experience, he has developed numerous courses that deal with different facets of peacebuilding and conflict resolution and regularly publish on the subject. While his research has focused on a wide array of areas in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, his most recent areas of focus have included faith-based peacebuilding, interfaith dialogue in peacebuilding and building social cohesion, and pedagogical considerations on incorporating peace and forgiveness education in the Arab world. Currently, Abu-Nimer is employed as a full professor at the American University School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in Washington, DC, the largest school of International Relations in the United States, and is also the action senior advisor to the young KAICIID Dialogue Centre, an international organization that specialized in interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

Education

Abu-Nimer completed his doctoral dissertation, Conflict Resolution between Arabs and Jews in Israel: A Study of Six Intervention Models, in 1993 at George Mason University. Since receiving his Ph.D. Professor Abu-Nimer received a two-year fellowship from the United States Foundation for Education in 1989, followed by a two-year graduate fellowship in 1990 at George Mason University. Abu-Nimer has been awarded a number of fellowships (e.g. Visiting Research Fellow at the Harry Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace (1999–2000), visiting fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute at Notre Dame University (2002–2003), Senior Peace Fellow in the Evaluation of Peacebuilding Program in a Development Context at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2007–2008)) as well as numerous grants (Annual Kenan Grant for Faculty Development from Guilford College (1995–1997), Peacebuilding and Islam from USIP (2001), Sam Richardson grant for Evaluation of Madrassa in Pakistan (2007–2008)) and awards (Teaching Excellence Award, American Political Science Association (2003), Morton Deutsch Award from the society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence (2005), Distinguished Alumni Award from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University (2009).

Professional history

Abu-Nimer is the first occupant of the Abdul Aziz Said Chair in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. Abu-Nimer is the founder and president of the Salam: Peacebuilding and Justice Institute in Washington, DC, which collaborates with conflict resolution practitioners, religious leaders, and academics to bridge the differences between

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and non-Muslim communities and encourage peacebuilding. He is the co-founder and co-editor of the prestigious Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, an interdisciplinary journal that focuses on. Dr. Abu-Nimer was the founder and director of the Peacebuilding and Development Institute and the director of the Conflict Resolution Skills Institutes at

, both of which offer unique and

peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...

courses for professionals in the field. As a professor and practitioner. Abu-Nimer specializes in conflict resolution and dialogue for peace among

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

and Jews in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...

, the application of conflict resolution models in Muslim communities, interreligious conflict resolution training,

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

,Alternative Approaches to Transforming Violent Extremism. The Case of Islamic Peace and Interreligious Peacebuilding
Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation
Dialogue 13
/ref> and the evaluation of conflict resolution programs. Abu-Nimer has intervened and led conflict resolution training workshops in many conflict areas around the world, including:

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and the

. He also has extensive experience in evaluating peace processes, including evaluations done on Seeds of Peace, the Neve Shalom/Wahat Al Salam school in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, a World Vision development program in Mindanao, Madrasah Teachers Training for ICRD. Abu-Nimer serves on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Editorial Board of International Journal of Transitional Justice, the Governing Board of World Dialogue, and Abraham’s Vision. He has also led international delegation to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, Palestine, and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, as well as chairing numerous international

conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

on the Islamic framework and practice of

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

, dialogue,

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, and development.

Publications

Abu-Nimer has been both author and an editor of more than 13 books on faith-based and interfaith peace-building (e.g. Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islamic Context: Bridging Ideals and Reality (2003); Peace-Building By, Between and Beyond Muslims and Evangelical Christians (2009)), as well as interfaith dialogue and its role in peacebuilding and reconciliation (e.g. Unity in Diversity: Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East (2007); Dialogue Conflict Resolution and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel (1999)). Abu-Nimer's newest volume, ''Faith-Based Peacebuilding: Challenges of Practice'', jointly edited with Michele Garred was scheduled for release in 2017. In addition, Abu-Nimer has been author to numerous articles in refereed journals, such as the ''International Review of Education'', the ''Journal of International and Comparative Education'', ''Journal of Religious Ethics'', ''Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research and the International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society. He has contributed chapters to a number of edited books. His articles and chapters have covered themes of forgiveness and peace education in Muslim societies such as “Forgiveness in the Arab and Islamic Contexts; Between Theology and Practice” in Journal of Religious Ethics (2013), “Examining Attitudes and Beliefs about Forgiveness Among Teachers in the Arab World” in Peace and Change: Journal of Peace Research (2016), “Integrating Education for Peace and Diversity in Islamic Schools in Niger; Negotiating Possibilities and Challenges” in the International Review of Education (2017); religion and peacebuilding such as "Culture, Religion, and Politics in International Mediation" in The Handbook of Mediation: Theory, Research and Practice (2017), “Religion and Peacebuilding: Reflections on Current Challenges and Future Prospects” in Journal of Inter-Religious Studies (2015); non-violence such as “Islamic Principles of Nonviolent and Peace Building: A Framework,” in Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World: Challenges for U.S. Engagement (2009), “Religious Contribution to Dialogue and Nonviolent Action in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Possibilities and Obstacles.” Palestinian Society and History Review (2007), “Nonviolent Action in Israel and Palestine: A Growing Force.” In Bridging the Divide: Peacebuilding in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 2006; and an array of other topics related to conflict resolution, dialogue, and peacebuilding.

References

External links

Salam Institute – Salam Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu-Nimer, Mohammed Living people American University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)