Philos' Charles Malik Institute Hosts Academic Conference

The West’s role on the global stage, particularly in the Near East, is under intense scrutiny. Who was right about the West, its identity, and its legacy?

In Washington, DC, on September 4th, 2024, the Charles Malik Institute hosted an academic conference with world-renowned experts to study two prominent voices in this conversation: Charles Malik and Edward Said. Though both men were from the Arab world, their views sharply contrast.

Photo Credit: George Goss

The Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik believed Westerners should remain faithful to the deepest values in their rich and millennia-old cultural synthesis—the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian cumulative tradition. Edward Said’s seminal book Orientalism shaped an entire generation of academics and practitioners to believe that any relationship between the West and the East is fundamentally exploitative. Said’s “post-colonial” thesis has become the intellectual water American universities and institutions swim in.

Thank you to each of our top scholars who provided insightful analysis on Charles Malik and Edward Said’s conflicting perspectives of the West and its role on the global stage.

Stay tuned for exciting projects to come following the conference!

Learn more about the Charles Malik Institute

Watch Dr. Martin Kramer’s opening lecture on the Philos Project’s YouTube channel