Center for Culture and Security

Mission

The pursuit of peace and security cannot be divorced from culture, from values that define who we are and what matters to us. Different people, nations, and ethnic groups approach historical challenges in widely disparate ways. Grasping the meaning and import of various religions is certainly essential to civilization, but so are education, information, customs, language, geography, humor, sexuality, myths and dreams.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seemed that liberalism and democracy had triumphed, and globalization could proceed unencumbered. But the premature euphoria did not last long: the specter of nuclear proliferation; the cataclysmic experience of 9/11; wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; Somali pirates; home grown jihadists. No wonder that some predicted “the coming anarchy.” It was increasingly clear that America and indeed the entire global community was facing complex, unprecedented challenges.

The Center promotes understanding both of the “otherness” of other cultures and of the common threads that define humanity. Seeking to appreciate and affect political reality without knowing its cultural context is not unlike watching a concert without the sound: one can see the instruments, but never know their music.

The Center for Culture and Security is a project of The Institute of World Politics.