Acclaimed Scholar Dr Ali Mazrui to Deliver Tenth Annual Commonwealth Lecture

The eminent scholar Dr Ali Mazrui, best known for his work in the area of African politics and Islamic affairs, will deliver the Tenth Commonwealth Lecture on Tuesday 15 May 2007 at the London School of Economics. The Lecture will focus on: The Power of Language and the Politics of Religion.
In his lecture Dr Mazrui will examine the interplay between religion and language, and whether religion, as a spiritual force, can learn something from the cultural force of language. He will also seek to answer the question of why, while a significant proportion of the world's Islamic population live in Commonwealth countries, Arab populations are not represented in the Commonwealth.

Dr Mazrui will pose questions such as what qualifies both a religion and a language as a major world force, what are the influential roles that the major world religions play in the lives of millions of Commonwealth citizens, and what are the impacts they have had on traditions of thought, and in societies and politics.

The Commonwealth Lecture aims to stimulate understanding, discussion and debate on the Commonwealth and its role in world affairs and has become a forceful annual affirmation of the Commonwealth's fundamental goals and values. These include a commitment to democracy, human rights and pro-poor development; and a determination to address intolerance and injustice through building bridges between peoples.

The Lecture helps many people discover the modern Commonwealth - a community of people and nations, equal partners within a wider globalised world.

The Commonwealth Lecture is delivered annually and is sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Royal Over-Seas League, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.