A PEACE AND SECURITY STRATEGY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE WEST AND ISLAM

Authors : Arzu Yilmaz

Pages : 73-98

Doi:10.1501/Intrel_0000000218

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Publication Date : 2008-05-01

Article Type : Research

Abstract :In the context of building a new foundation for the harmonious continuation of the established world order, religions/cultures/civilizations are now being summoned to the cause of creating peace and security. The dialogue projects which are carried out to serve this goal work to resolve the lack of mutual knowledge among the communities described as "the West and Islam”, to discover the common values, and thus to establish some kind of universal understanding. In this article, no distinction is made between the efforts variously described as "interreligious dialogue”, "intercultural dialogue”, or "the alliance of civilizations”. Instead, all these endeavors will be commonly referred to as the "Dialogue between the West and Islam”. This is because, in practice, these efforts are all premised upon the idea that Islam constitutes a threat to the universal values which the West represents. This paper argues that dialogue alone will be insufficient to preserve peace and security in a world in which some two billion eight hundred people are living on less than two dollars per day, and a further one billion two hundred million are struggling to stay alive with less than one dollar. One banner that the anti-globalist demonstrators unfurled in Geneva provides a succinct summary of this case: "If there is no justice, there will be no peace.”
Keywords : Interreligious Dialogue, Intercultural Dialogue, Alliance of Civilizations