NU Community Founded in the US

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has founded a Chapter of NU in the US. The intent is to foster understanding between Islam and the West. This is interesting for me in that the idea of fostering an understanding between Islam and the west presupposes that the problem is one of countries against a religion. I wonder why NU has not been founded to foster an inter-faith dialogue instead. An understanding of Islam by those who are non-Muslim?

However, the founders of the Chapter are Indonesians studying for post-graduate degrees in the US. Among them are Sumanto Al-Qurtubi and Achmad Tohe, both PhD candidates at Boston University, Achmad Munjid, PhD candidate at Temple University, and Ulil Abshar Abdalla, PhD candidate (pictured) at Harvard University.

Fostering relationships is a key to developing understanding. So, here's hoping they achieve what they set out to do.