RAPID CITY, S.D. - The nonprofit Mount Rushmore Institute is holding a Middle East forum at the national memorial this fall.
It's planned for Oct. 16-17 and will feature a diverse group of scholars, analysts, activists and educators, organizers said.
James Nelson, Mount Rushmore Institute president, said the goal is to promote dialogue and expand Americans' knowledge of the complex issues surrounding tensions in the region.
"The Middle East is a tinder box at the center of many of our most vexing global challenges," Nelson said in a release. "Oil, religious extremism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are a combustible combination. This forum, featuring many distinguished authorities on the region, is intended to create a greater understanding of the challenges that confront all of us. It's a chance to ask, 'Is there a solution?"'
