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The New York Times has described The Divine Grace of Islam Nusantara as “a 90-minute film that amounts to a relentless, religious repudiation of the [self-styled] Islamic State and the opening salvo in a global campaign by the world’s largest Muslim group [Nahdlatul Ulama] to challenge [IS’s] ideology head-on.” The film documents the enthusiasm with which Indonesian Muslims have commemorated the historic role of the 15^th-16^th century Walisongo (“Nine Saints”) movement—a movement that precipitated the development in the East Indies (now Indonesia) of a great Islamic civilization rooted in the principle of universal love and compassion (rahmah).

The film and a panel discussion the following day will unpack a perspective that has been historically central to Muslim cultures stretching from North Africa to Southeast Asia. The essence and mission of Islam Nusantara is to build civilization, not to destroy it. Yahya Staquf has described the film as an invitation to Muslims everywhere to reject radicalism and theological straight-jackets and stand up for their own cultural adaptation of Islam.

Kyai Haji Yahya Cholil Staquf is a leader of what is widely regarded as the largest Muslim organization in the world. Located in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama adheres to the traditions of Sunni Islam. Yahya has primary responsibility for the expansion of NU’s activities to include North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Earlier positions included service as spokesperson for Indonesia’s 1999-2001 president Abdurrahman Wahid, the country’s first democratically elected head of state.

C. Holland Taylor’s leadership of the LibForAll Foundation dates from its co-founding in 2003 by Taylor and former Indonesian president Wahid. The Wall Street Journal has called LibForAll “a model of what a competent public diplomacy effort in the Muslim world should look like.” An expert on Islam and Islamization in Southeast Asia, Taylor has lived, studied, and worked in Muslim societies from Iran to Indonesia. He was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Princeton University.

Note:  Although the panel will reference the film, the panelists will range beyond the film to present and discuss the role and relevance of the concept of Islam Nusantara in Indonesia and the larger Muslim world. Viewing the film is thus not a prerequisite to understanding the panel.

Film screening and brief discussion:  Wednesday, April 6, 2016 (screening: 4:00 – 5:30 pm; discussion: 5:30 – 6:00 pm)

RSVP: http://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/southeastasia/events/registration/220800

Philippines Conference Room

Encina Hall, Third Floor, Central

616 Serra Street, Stanford University

Panel:  Thursday, April 7, 2016, noon – 1:30 pm

RSVP: http://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/southeastasia/events/registration/220799

Philippines Conference Room

Encina Hall, Third Floor, Central

616 Serra Street, Stanford University

Free and open to the public

This event is co-sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program, the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies and the Department of Religious Studies.

- This event is jointly sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) - 

Five years to the day after a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused an accident at three of the reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, a panel of Stanford experts will convene in Encina Hall to reflect on the lessons learned from the disaster that unfolded starting on March 11, 2011. Panelists will include:

• Steven Chu, 12th U.S. Secretary of Energy (2009-2013), Laureate of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics,  William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology in the Medical School at Stanford University - Focus: Perspective from the Department of Energy on the role of the department in helping mitigate the consequences and the lessons learned
• Phillip Lipscy, Thomas Rohlen Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University - Focus: Fukushima in comparative perspective and how the Japanese nuclear power industry has reacted since the accident.
• Scott Sagan, Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science, Mimi and Peter Haas University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. Focus: the effects of the accident on efforts to improve nuclear safety and security, based on the upcoming book Learning from a Disaster.
• Takeo Hoshi, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and director of APARC's Japan Program, will chair the session and act as moderator.

This event will also serve as a book launch for the book Learning from A Disaster: Improving Nuclear Safety and Security After Fukushima, co-edited by Edward Blandford, a former Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at CISAC and Scott Sagan. the book is being published by Stanford University Press and will be available for purchase at the event. Pre-orders can be taken here.

Background: Substance abuse has been an important social and public health problem in Thailand for decades. The National Household Survey on Substance and Alcohol Use in Thailand, which has been conducted 5 times, shows that substance abuse has steadily increased. Extrapolated country-wide in recent data, the estimated number of people who had ever used at least one addictive substance at some time in their life was 3,531,436 or 7.30% of the total population aged 12-65 years. Krathom, Methamphetamine, Ice, and cannabis were the most prevalent substances of abuse.

Methods: Historical documentation, policy reports, and group discussion with key professionals who work in the substance abuse community were used in this study. The objectives of this study were to complete a document review, determine the effectiveness of previous  Thai illegal substance measures, and consider options for the future.

Findings: Although the Thai government has dedicated human resources and an enormous budget to controlling drug use, substance abuse has become a more severe problem when compared with previous years. There are many organizations trying to create and develop programs, measures, and policies for dealing with substance abuse. These policies usually have had loopholes which resulted in corruption of officers, undercutting the public health value, creating dilemmas for impoverished families experiencing drug abuse, ignoring human rights, and creating a negative attitude among society toward drug users. Barriers to establishing successful drug abuse policies in Thailand include limited access to data and data management, a lack of efficiency and cost-benefit measures and policies, and limited use of evidence-based research.

Conclusion: To address illegal substance abuse in the future, the stakeholders should work to reduce the incidence of new sellers and the prevalence of new users. This would result in diminishing the health impact and criminal aspect of illegal substance use, increase social awareness, and motivate communities to participate in managing this issue. To reach these goals, the policy should concurrently aim at curtailing the supply of illicit drugs and reducing their demand. The strategies relevant to drug policy consist of primary prevention, services for chronic drug users, supply control and regulations, prescription regimes, and the use of criminal sanctions, especially consideration of decriminalization of krathom use.

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