we will have melissa rodgers and ellen alvira, and marty lederman, and michael mcconnell here. we invite you to come and you can sign up for the event on our web page. today, we are going to address a timely and important topic, religious freedom and religious extremism, lessons from the arab spring, we will hear from some of the nation's top pexperts on the topic. as always, we want you to be encouraged to be involved in the conversation. both today and in the future. let us hear from you. the over arching question is what role if any ought religious freedom to play in the struggle for self governance. can it play a role in rooting demauk r demauk rassy in these -- democracy. -- open to the use of violence. can religious freedom in fact limit religious extremists, how should american policy seek to best counter religious extremism in practice. our first panel will discuss a growing body of work, some of it produced, of much of it producen their own about how the forms of religious political engagement, and second the conditions under which greater religious freedom might under