KEYNOTE SPEAKERS FOR GCG MELBOURNE 2008 CONFERENCE:

His Excellency Seyyed Mohammad Khatami (President of Iran 1997-2005)

The Conference Committee for Globalisation for the Common Good 2008 gives notice that His Excellency Seyyed Mohammad Khatami has reluctantly advised that the current situation in Iran has made his personal appearance impossible.  However, the Committee is making every endeavour to secure an address from His Excellency via satelite link or pre-recorded video presentation.

Leader of the reform movement in Iran, he is credited with having placed the dialogue of cultures and civilizations on the international map. He was instrumental in getting the idea of dialogue unanimously accepted by the Organisation of Islamic Conference in 1997 and by the UN General Assembly in 1998.

Since then, in a number of landmark speeches delivered to large audiences around the world, he has brought to the idea intellectual depth, political insight and practical focus. His advice is widely sought by religious and political leaders around the world.

He will give the keynote address at the conference on Monday evening 30th June. Given the importance of the occasion, the meeting will be open to the public.

In 1961 after graduation from high school in his hometown, President Khatami went to the holy city of Qom to study theology and then in 1965 he continued his studies in Isfahan. He also studied philosophy at the University of Isfahan where he obtained his BA in 1969. In 1970 he entered the University of Tehran to study education and graduated with an MA. After graduation he went back to Qom to follow up his philosophical studies.

Before the Revolution H. E. Mohammad Khatami participated in Islamic Movement in Hozeh (Seminary) in Qom. After the revolution in 1979 he replaced Ayatollah Dr. Beheshti as Head of Hamburg Islamic Center. The Center turned into an Islamic campaign center when the late Imam Khomeini went to France. He represented Ardakan and Meibod constituencies in the first term of the Majlis [Parliament] in 1980. He was also appointed as the Leader's (Late Imam Khomeini) representative in Kayhan newspaper Institute in 1981.

From 1982 to 1992 he was the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. During the 1980 - 1988 Iraqi imposed war, he served at different responsibilities including deputy and head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and chairman of the War Propaganda Headquarters.

In 1992 he was appointed as Advisor to former President Rafsanjani. In 1996 He was appointed as a member of High Council for Cultural Revolution by the Leader of Iran. As President he was the head of the council. President Khatami was elected as the fifth President of the Islamic Republic on May 23, 1997 elections by gaining 20,078,178 votes, almost 70 percent of the votes cast. He was re-elected on June 8, 2001 for a second term. His second term ended on August 2, 2005.

H.E. Mr. Khatami has written several articles and books:

* To Whom does Velayat belong? (Article 1979)

* Tradition, Modernism and Development (Article 1996)

* Fear of wave (1993)

* Faith and Thought Trapped by Despotism (1994)

* From the World of the City to the Global City (first published 1999)

* Islam, the Clergy and the Islamic Revolution (2000)

* Women and Youth (2000)

He has received numerous awards, including:

* Gold medal from Greek university Athens

* The special medal of Spain's Congress of Deputies and Senate, key to Madrid

* Honorary Doctorate, Moscow's University of International Relations

* Honorary PhD degree, University of Tokyo

* Honorary doctorate degree by the Delhi University

* Honorary doctorate from Azerbaijan's Academy of Science

* Degree of honour in political sciences, University of Lebanon

* Pakistan's highest civilian honour

* Plaque of honour and medal of distinction by the international federation

for parent education

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal was officially invested as Crown Prince to the Hashemite Throne of Jordan, in April 1965. He has been awarded numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees from universities in the UK, US, Russia, Turkey, Japan and elsewhere. In Jordan, HRH established: the Royal Scientific Society, the Arab Thought Forum, the Higher Council for Science and Technology, and the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies.

In July 2003, Prince Hassan founded the International Cultures Foundation. In July 2003, he launched Partners in Humanity, which aims to improve understanding, build positive relationships and promote dialogue between the Muslim and western worlds. The Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD) was established, with Prince Hassan as Co-founder and Board Member.

Prince Hassan chairs and is a member of a number of international committees and organisations, including:

- President of the Club of Rome (1999 – present);

- Chairman of the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues;

- Chairman of the Board for the Center for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution at the University of Oklahoma International Programs Center;

- Co-president of the International Tolerance Foundation for Humanities and Social Studies, St. Petersburg (since 2006);

- International Patron of Rights and Humanity;

- Commissioner of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC);

- Member of the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Washington, D.C. (since 2002);

- Member of the Trilateral Commission;

- Member of the International Advisory Board of Forum 2000;

- Member of the International Board of the Council on Foreign Relations;

- Member of the Committee of Notables of the Institut Català de la Mediterrània (since 2001).

In June 2003, following the U.N. General Assembly resolution 56/266, HRH was elected as one of five regional experts in the Independent Eminent Experts group, appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to implement the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Prince Hassan is the author of seven books:

- A Study on Jerusalem (1979) (English);

- Palestinian Self-Determination (1981) (English, Arabic);

- Search for Peace (1984) (English, Arabic);

- Christianity in the Arab World (1994) (English, Arabic, French, Greek, Spanish, Russian, German, Swedish);

- Essere Musulmano – Co-authored with Alain Elkann – (2001) (Italian, French, Spanish) To Be A Muslim (English – released 2003);

- Continuity, Innovation and Change: Selected Essays (2001);

- In Memory of Faisal I: The Iraqi Question (2003) (Arabic).

Most Revd Dr Peter Carnley (Retired Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia).

Dr Carnley is the Chairman of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference for the Anglican Communion. He was the Archbishop of Perth from 1981 to 2005. He has been a strong advocate of the ordination of women.

In 2003 he a united front of all Australian Anglican bishops except Peter Jensen of Sydney in opposing the Australian Government's involvement in the invasion of Iraq.

Since the 1980s he has also served as co-chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission seeking greater union and even full communion between the Catholic and Anglican Churches.

Rabbi Melissa Weintraub (Co-Founder, Co-Director, Encounter)

Rabbi Weintraub was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary and currently represents the Seminary as a Rabbinic Fellow in Conservative communities throughout North America. She also serves as Director of Education and Outreach at Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, and is the author of several articles treating the subjects of human dignity, war ethics, and human rights in Jewish sources. A noted speaker and educator, she has lectured and taught on Jewish theology, mysticism, and ethics in an array of conferences, synagogues, and adult education settings, including the Princeton Theological Seminary, the New York Kollel, and the Elat Chayyim Jewish Retreat Center.

Melissa has also designed curricula for a number of Jewish organizations, including the Panim Institute and the Conservative Movement's United Synagogue Youth (USY). An alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program, Melissa lived in Israel for six years and is a veteran of Jewish-Muslim and Israeli-Palestinian people-to-people initiatives. Recipient of a grant from the Samuel Ruben Foundation, Melissa is currently working on a book exploring Jewish religious responses to terror.

Reverend Professor James Haire - KSJ, MA (Oxon), Grad DipMiss (Leiden), PhD (Birmingham), HonDD (Belfast), Hon DUniv (GU)

James Haire is Professor of Theology, Charles Sturt University. He is Executive Director, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture Director, Public and Contextual Theology Strategic Research Centre President of the National Council of Churches in Australia. Ex-President of Uniting Church in Australia.

His research interests include: New Testament theology; Pauline theology; Pauline rhetoric; socio-scientific research on the Pauline world; Asian theology; indigenous Asian Christian theologies; interaction between Asian Christian theologies and Asian world-views and non-Christian religions; Pacific theology; Public theology.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar

Chandra Muzaffar is one of Asia’s leading intellectuals. He currently holds the Noordin Sopiee Chair in Global Studies at the Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malysia. He is also the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) and is associated with many other international NGOs concerned with social justice and civilisational dialogue.

Chandra Muzaffar has authored a number of books and articles on religion, human rights, Malaysian politics and international relations. Dr. Chandra was the first director and professor at the Center for Civilisational Dialogue at University Malaya from 1997-1999.

Recent publications include: Rights, Religion and Reform - Enhancing Human Dignity through Spiritual and Moral Transformation; Subverting Greed - Religious Perspectives on the Global Economy; Muslims, Dialogue, Terror; and Global Ethic or Global Hegemony?

Associate Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand

Chaiwat SATHA‑ANAND, born 1955 in Bangkok, teaches "Violence and Nonviolence in Politics" and "Political Philosophy" at Thammasat University in Thailand. His research interests include religions and nonviolence, forgiveness in politics and nonviolent security policies. He has published some 20 books both in Thailand and abroad. Some of his academic writings were translated and published in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, German and Italian.

His most recent books published in Thai include: Abhai-Withi (The Way of Forgiveness), Friends/enemies and the politics of forgiveness (2000), Living Weapons: A Critique of Violence from Critical Peace Research Perspective (2003). His recent books in other languages include: Islam E Nonviolenza [in Italian, 1997); The Frontiers of Nonviolence [in English] (as co‑editor, 2002); Agama Dan Budaya Perdamaian [in Bahasa Indonesia] (Religion and Peace Culture, 2001). His most recent articles include: "Understanding the Success of Terrorism, "Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (April 2002), "Forgiveness as a Nonviolent Security Policy," Social Alternatives (Autumn 2002), "Forgiveness in Southeast Asia: Political Necessities and Sacred Justifications," Pacifica Review (October 2002).

In addition to serving as the Director of Peace Information Center, Foundation for Democracy and Development Studies, some of his other positions include: Vice‑President of the Foundation for Children's Development, and Vice‑President of the Strategic Nonviolence Commission, National Security Council. He was Vice‑Rector for Academic Affairs of Thammasat University and President of the Social Science Association of Thailand.

Dr Makruf Jamhari - Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Society at the National Islam University (PPIM-UIN, Jakarta).

Having received a Ph.D. in anthropology from the Australian National University, Dr Jamhari is a reputed researcher on Islamic studies with a focus on the installation of democracy in Islamic society and Muslim's compatibility with civil society.

Among his current interests and concerns is the aggravated poverty in rural areas as an underlying root cause for the upsurge of religious fundamentalism. Dr Jamhari facilitates the interdisciplinary research activities of PPIM-UIN Jakarta, which are designed to enhance mutual understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims. He grapples with injustice against Muslim communities due to misperceptions, and explores the contemporary significance of Islam through the linkage with Western value systems.

His publications include "Islamic Contemporary Movement: The Rise of Islamic Radicalism" (Logos, 2004).

Dr Kamran Mofid

Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative and Co- founder/Editor, Journal of Globalisation for the Common Good, holds dual British and Canadian nationality, was born in Tehran, Iran in 1952, received his BA and MA in economics from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, in 1980 and 1982 respectively. In 1986 he was awarded his doctorate in economics from the University of Birmingham, UK. In 2001 he received a Certificate in Education in Pastoral Studies at Plater College, Oxford.

In 2002 he founded an annual international conference on An Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good. The Inaugural Conference took place in Oxford and in 2003 it was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 2004 conference was held in Dubai. The 2005 conference was held in Nairobi and Kericho, Kenya. The 2006 Conference was held at Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the 2007 Conference was held at Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Dr. Mofid is currently carrying out research on the relationship between economics, spirituality, ethics, cultures, faiths and globalisation. These are highlighted in his co-authored recently published book, Promoting the Common Good: Bringing Economics and Theology Together: A Theologian and an Economist in Dialogue, Rev. Marcus Braybrooke and Kamran Mofid, Foreword by Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford (Shepheard-Walwyn, London, June 2005). Kamran lives in Coventry with his wife Annie and their two sons, Kevin and Paul.

Web sites:

http://www.globalisationforthecommongood.info/