Today, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies concluded the second day of the second International Symposium of Herat School of Security. Prominent Afghan scholars, academics, former and current government officials, members of civil society and media representatives participated in the second and final day of the event.
The panels today discussed how to tackle extremism in today’s world with focus on Afghanistan and central Asia. The first panel titled ‘Identity and Politics: Sustainable Peace’ discussed security and identity in central Asia and Afghanistan. It also examined the successes of Tajikistan Peace process that is exemplified as one of the most successful peace settlements.
The second panel discussed how insurgents recruit using the existing traditional religious institutions, as well as, how the Taliban build narratives, and how to tackle them. The panel also discussed how to approach the Taliban in the peace process using the narrative of Sunni Islam.
Herat School of Security attempts to open a platform to discuss security from a non-western perspective. Herat School of Security aims to introduce a security discourse that is based on ethics, individual cognizance and collective tolerance. The principles that our literature and mysticism have formed as their foundations, in addition to the fact that these principles have been the key to peaceful coexistence and cultural tolerance in our multicultural region.