On Thursday, May 1, 2008, the Countering Violent Extremism Initiative (CVEI) of the EastWest Institute hosted an event entitled “Building a Virtual Platform for Moderates: Reconciling Traditional and Religious Wisdom with Public Life in the 21st Century.” CVEI brought together members of the diplomatic, entertainment, business, policy, and academic communities to discuss the portrayal of violence in the media.

Participants discussed how the government, media, and civil society can work together to promote positive messages to work towards removing the reasons for violent extremism. J. Rami Mroz, Manager of the Countering Violent Extremism Initiative, Shamil Idriss, Director of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, and Andrew Nagorski, Senior Editor of Newsweek International, offered their views on the above issues and led the discussion with the assembled participants.