About the paper:
This paper will present an analytical reflection of US policy in the current dynamic debate over how best to deal with defamation, stereotyping and worse...based on religion. The consensus reached among nations in Geneva early this month is a tangible result of President Obama's policy of engagement based on respect and overlapping interest. It has significantly moved forward the international agenda in combating discrimination, hate and violence based on religious prejudice, which will also be argued.
About the author:
Peter Kovach: Member of the Department of State’s Senior Foreign Service and holds the rank of Minister-Counselor. He recently became Director of the Office of International Religious Freedom in State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. A career expert in strategic communications, Kovach recently served as Director of the Global Strategic Engagement Center, a US government interagency office that coordinates both policy and message for communications aimed at countering extremist ideologies.
Kovach also served for two years as Diplomat in Residence at UCLA representing the Department of State and diplomatic careers throughout Southern California. Prior to that, he worked as Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Director of the State Department's three Foreign Press Centers, and Director of a secretariat that coordinated US government international public information efforts with allies and international organizations.
Mr. Kovach has also served overseas in Tokyo, Japan; Amman, Jordan; Rabat, Morocco; Manama, Bahrain; and Sanaa, Yemen. He ran the International Visitor Leadership Program for North Africa, the Near East and South Asia and served as a senior director of communications policy in the Near East Bureau for the former United States Information Agency.
Kovach holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (ABD) from the Fletcher School; a Master of Arts in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley and a BA in Asian history and religion from Wesleyan University.
