Rached Ghannouchi is the co-founder and president of the Ennahda Movement, an Islamist group that is currently Tunisia's largest political party and the dominant participant in a coalition that has governed the country since the October 2011 elections. After spending more than two decades in exile for his political activism, Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia in January 2011 to participate in the country's democratic transition. Widely recognized as one of the world's most influential Islamic thinkers and a proponent of Islamic democracy and pluralism, he was named one of TIME's one hundred most influential people in the world in 2012. That year, he also was awarded the Chatham House Prize (with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki) for "the successful compromises each achieved during Tunisia's democratic transition."
His talk will be followed by an opportunity for audience questions.
This event is sponsored by the World Leaders Forum and the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, and co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and the Middle East Institute.
