April 13, 2026 |"Dhimmitude and the Politics of Accommodation” with Judith Miller
Dhimmitude and the Politics of Accommodation
The writer Bat Ye’or coined the term ‘dhimmitude’ as a lens through which to interpret ongoing tensions between the Islamic world and the West. She argued that this framework, which references the Islamic concept of Dhimma, according to which Christian and Jews were assigned a legal, inferior status under Islamic rule may help explain certain patterns of cultural accommodation employed by western countries with regard to the Islamic world, as well as broader political trends emerging across Europe and beyond. How might this concept help understand western foreign policy decisions regarding the Islamic world? Does a sense of intimidation underlie western decision-making in this area?
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter and former New York Times journalist, now affiliated with the Manhattan Institute. She has focused on national security, terrorism, and the Middle East, and is also a published author of multiple best-selling books. In 2005, she spent 85 days in jail defending confidential sources and has since advocated for stronger protections for journalists. Her career includes international reporting, war coverage, major awards, and ongoing commentary and writing on public policy issues. She attended Ohio State University, Barnard College and the Institute of European Studies at the University of Brussels. She has a bachelor’s degree from Barnard and a master’s from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
