The Dialogue of Civilizations ( Conclusions - 3 of 3 )

What Clash of Civilizations?

Samuel Huntington's article "The Clash of Civilizations?" appeared in the Summer 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs, where it immediately attracted a surprising amount of attention and reaction.

" World politics is entering a new phase, in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizations-the highest cultural groupings of people-are differentiated from each other by religion, history, language and tradition. These divisions are deep and increasing in importance. From Yugoslavia to the Middle East to Central Asia, the fault lines of civilizations are the battle lines of the future. In this emerging era of cultural conflict the United States must forge alliances with similar cultures and spread its values wherever possible. With alien civilizations the West must be accommodating if possible, but confrontational if necessary. In the final analysis, however, all civilizations will have to learn to tolerate each other."

Samuel P. Huntington is the Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor at Harvard University, where he is also director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies and chairman of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.

Representing the Muslim perspective was Dr. Jamal Badawi: Dr. Badawi is a professor of Management at Saint Mary University in Halifax.

He has authored several books and articles on Islam and designed and participated in the production of nearly 350 half-hour segments of a TV series on Islam.

He has lectured extensively in North America and abroad, and is an excellent speaker on a variety of topics including Islam & Christianity.

Dr. Badawi is also a member of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Fiqh Council.

Representing the Christian side was Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, John Louis Esposito

Esposito was raised a Roman Catholic in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, and spent a decade in a Catholic monastery. After taking his first degree he worked as a management consultant and high-school teacher. He then studied and received a masters in theology at St Johns University.

He earned a PhD at Temple University, Pennsylvania in 1974, studying Islam and held post doc appointments at Harvard and Oxford Universities.

He is well-known as a promoter of strong ties between Muslims and Christians and has even challenged the Vatican to make greater efforts to encourage such ties.

The Topic: The Dialogue of Civilizations

A dialogue between Dr. Jamal Badawi and Prof. John L. Esposito

(Kingdom of Bahrain, May 30th 2002)