Dr. Nader Hashemi is an Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He also heads the university’s Centre for Middle East Studies. His most recent book is “Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy,” and he is in Malaysia as a guest for a symposium organized by the Islamic Renaissance Front on that subject. He gives us an historical perspective on what has led to the state of affairs in the Middle East today.