WHAT: A conversation with the Right Honorable Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

WHEN: Saturday, April 2, 2016, 1:30-3:00 PM

WHERE: Atrium, School of International Service, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20016 (SIS building is located at the intersection of Nebraska and New Mexico Aves., NW) Directions: http://www.american.edu/sis/about/directions.cfm

RSVP: Media interested in attending must RSVP with AU Media: nabel@american.edu, 202-885-5943.

Background: The Right Honorable Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia on July 29, 2015. Deputy Prime Minister Hamidi will provide a short address and engage in a dialogue with American University students. The conversation will be moderated by Amitav Acharya, professor of international relations, American University’s School of International Service.

Prof. Acharya serves as the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Chair of the ASEAN Studies Center at American University. He is the author of The End of American World Order. Acharya is available for interviews on a wide range of issues related to the visit and U.S.-Malaysia relations.

Other American University experts available for comments include:

Tricia Bacon, School of Public Affairs assistant professor, specializes in terrorism, particularly Al-Qaida, the Islamic State, Lashar-e-Tayyiba, al-Shabaab, and other jihadist groups, counterterrorism policy and tactics, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and East Africa. Bacon worked in counter terrorism for more than 10 years at the State Department. She can discuss issues related to terrorist threats in Southeast Asia and counter-terrorism capabilities and cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Pek Koon Heng is assistant professor in AU’s School of International Service. She teaches courses on International Relations and International Political Economy in Southeast and East Asia, directs the ASEAN Studies Initiative at SIS, and runs SIS’s summer graduate program on “Globalization and Regionalism in Southeast Asia” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. In addition, she is the Contract Course Coordinator of the Southeast Asia Area Studies Program at the State Department Foreign Service Institute, which prepares US Foreign Service Officers for assignments in the region. Prof. Heng can discuss issues related to US-Malaysia relations; political, economic and social development in Malaysia; ASEAN and regional integration; ASEAN and regional security cooperation; and human rights in ASEAN. 

Stephen Tankel is an assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Prof. Tankel specializes in international security with a focus on terrorism and counterterrorism, political and military affairs in South Asia, and U.S. foreign and defense policies related to these issues. Prof. Tankel is on the editorial board of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and is a senior editor of the web magazine War on the Rocks.

Joe Young, School of International Service and School of Public Affairs associate professor, is an expert in cross-national causes and consequences of political violence and extremism. Young is available to discuss ISIS; threat of domestic extremism; domestic surveillance and homeland security.