Embracing Multiculturalism: The Key to Peace and National Security

ACRF CEO Dr Jannah Scott meets with Honorary Consul General of Senegal Mame Toucouleur Mbaye in Baku, Azerbaijan.

As they reflected on their experience at the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, their conversation focused on the importance of multiculturalism and multi-faith dialogue to peace and national security. Listen to some of the conversation starting at 4 minutes and 50 seconds.

INTERVIEW:

Good afternoon. Today we are here in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating the sixth annual World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue and security around the world. I would love to introduce my dear friend, Jannah Scott, who I admire a lot, inspiring as a woman leader who would been working tirelessly to make sure everything in the intercultural and interconnection works around the world. I would like to have Jannah talk about herself and then what could take on the Intercultural World Forum. Jannah.

Dr. Jannah Scott: First and foremost, let me thank you for the privilege of being with you because you talk about inspiring, you are the inspiration to all women when you walk in the room, your elegance, your wholeness, your knowledge, your intellect. It really brings us joy to see you.

Thank you.

Dr. Jannah Scott: I'm usually seeing you in the United States, so to be here in beautiful Baku with you is extra special. Here at the World Forum, we have been privileged to be among presidents, among parliamentarians, among diplomats like yourself, among faith leaders like myself and the common people from all over the world, we are 120 countries here. I really sense that what happened this week was laying the groundwork for what we must do to shift the paradigm in countries around the world, around interfaith and intercultural dialogue.

Wonderful, wonderful. And I guess that's not your first time being here. And I know that you've been coming here since I've known you with at that time, telling me that you guys come almost every year to celebrate and also to work on it. And your experience and what you have to actually live in this intercultural dialogue, the sixth annual today, I would like for you to elaborate a bit.

Dr. Jannah Scott: Well, my involvement with intercultural dialogue goes back to my own life. My faith background is eclectic. I grew up in a Pentecostal hall in the Christian tradition. In college, I practiced Buddhism. I was a Baháʼí for many years. I was 14 years as a Muslim of the American Muslim mission. I've been in Sikh Gurdwaras. And I also, as a follower of Jesus, I studied the Jewish faith. And so even in my own life, it's been an expression of interfaith and really seeking to understand how people worship and how that worship then translates into work and service in the world. Now, my first time in Baku though was in 2015 when I was with the Obama administration.

Can you speak a little a bit?

Dr. Jannah Scott: Yes, during my eight-year tenure with the Obama administration, I was sent to Baku as part of my work in looking at interfaith and intercultural dialogue as an important element to peace and security, as you mentioned at the beginning. Many nations are coming into a greater understanding of how important it is to engage around this work from a national security perspective.

And so I can really want to honor and thank the president of Azerbaijan because they have been a convening place many embassies around the world and many other national governments to bring that point home that we must engage around our faith communities and around our cultural communities to promote and preserve national security.

Dr. Jannah Scott: Now I want to say one more quick thing about that. When we began the Obama administration in 2009, one of President Obama's first actions was to speak at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. And he talked about a new era of partnerships. He was very committed to overcoming some of the division that had been created by the 9/11 incident.

Relations with countries across the world have been difficult. And so from his perspective, he felt like he needed to establish a new era of partnership. And he gave this great speech. But more importantly, he took those principles in the United States and wrote them into his national security plan or national security strategy as he calls it. And one of the most important principles was the engagement around interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

That's wonderful. So inspiring. I mean, I was very privileged to know and have a good relationship with the Consul General of Azerbaijan [inaudible 00:06:13]. And he's the one who actually, with his team Rashid and Ramiz, just helped me be invited to this intercultural forum, which is my very first time.

And I just admire them because they're all into promoting their culture and extend it to the rest of the world. And I saw it when I came here because sometimes they invited us to come to the Council to talk about Baku, talk about Azerbaijan. And how from the ground the president actually worked so tirelessly, so hard to build up the country.