Bahtiar Effendi Auditorium, FISIP Online – In order to celebrate the 14th anniversary, FISIP UIN Jakarta held a Public Lecture and Book Review which was held in a hybrid manner , Wednesday (27/09/2023) and was attended by hundreds of FISIP UIN Jakarta students.

The activity was officially opened by the Dean of FISIP Prof. Dr. Dzuriyatun Tobiyah MA. According to him, this event was held to increase insight and understanding of FISIP UIN Jakarta students, especially students of the International Relations Study Program.

"This public lecture aims to strengthen students' insight, especially about global issues related to the Islamic world. "Likewise, the book review aims to introduce the scientific work of one of the FISIP UIN Jakarta lecturers who has experience as a diplomat," he said.

The public lecture with the theme "The Islamic World in the Midst of Global Uncertainty" presented Prof. Sumanto al-Qurtuby Ph.D, an observer of the Islamic world who currently teaches at King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia.

In his presentation, Sumanto revealed that the Islamic world is currently facing various challenges and opportunities amidst global uncertainty. Global uncertainty itself is caused by a number of factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, geopolitical conflicts and technological developments.

He also mentioned media reports that described the dynamics of the Islamic world today. On the one hand, media reports reveal new developments in the Muslim world which are quite encouraging, including, strengthening diplomatic efforts and cooperation between Islamic and non-Islamic countries.

"Such as restoration of Saudi-Iran relations, Saudi-Houthi reconciliation, Gulf-China relations, and building connections with Israel," he said.

On the other hand, he said, media reports also illustrate that there is still an unpleasant reality in the Islamic world. These include a lack of solidarity, tolerance, inclusiveness, creativity, innovation and leadership among Muslims.

Sumanto further suggested the need for the Islamic world to be able to face global uncertainty in a better and more productive way. In this way, he hopes, the Muslim community will become a global actor with social, economic, political and other influences.

Furthermore, the students and participants also took part in a book review activity entitled "From Diplomat to Academician" by Dr. Nazarudin Nasution MA. In this book, the author tells the story of his career as a career diplomat for 30 years.

Various countries from various continents witnessed his career as a diplomat, such as the United States, Japan, Egypt. Careers in various places gave him different experiences with the political, social, economic and cultural situations of each country.

Furthermore, he also talked about his life's journey to return to campus to teach the field of science he studied and studied. Apart from that, he hopes that UIN Jakarta students and graduates can pursue professional and academic careers better than himself.

The book review activity was guided by Dr. Asep Kamaluddin N., M.Si. and Dr. M. Adian Firnas S.IP., M.Si. Both of them expressed appreciation and criticism of Nazaruddin's book from an academic and practical perspective.

Furthermore, they also recommend that students and the public read the book. Because apart from being written by academics who teach International Relations, the books are written by experienced diplomats. Moreover, it contains stories behind the scenes of diplomacy, the challenges and difficulties faced by diplomats, as well as the contributions and achievements achieved by the author.