Cynthia P. Schneider is a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. She teaches, publishes and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on relations with the Muslim world. Schneider co-directs the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown, as well as the Los Angeles-based MOST Resource (Muslims on Screen and Television). Additionally, she co-directs the Timbuktu Renaissance, an innovative strategy and platform for countering extremism and promoting peace and development, which grew out of her work leading the Arts and Culture Dialogue Initiative within Brookings’ Center for Middle East Policy. From 1998-2001, she served as US Ambassador to the Netherlands.