DIALOGUE, REASON, AND POWER IN WORLD POLITICS

Marc Lynch

Marc Lynch is Assistant Professor of Political Science at
Williams College. He received his PhD from Cornell University, and has
taught at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the University of
California, Berkeley. Columbia University Press published his book "The
International Politics of Jordan's Identity", in 1999. Among his published
articles are "The Dialogue of Civilizations and International Public Spheres
Theory," Millennium: Journal of International Studies 29, no.2 (2000);
"Globalization and International Democracy," International Studies Review 2,
no.3 (2000); and "The Politics of Consensus in the Gulf," Middle East Report
215 (2000). His current research focuses on the role of international
deliberation and public opinion in the politics of the sanctions on
Iraq.

The President of Iran, Hujjat al-Islam Mohammad Khatami, has
made a challenge to the Western world to abandon its discourse of "clash of
civilizations,"and instead replace the mentality of conflict with one of
dialogue. Implicit in his challenge is an appeal to rationality over force and
aggression. Khatami is arguing against both the arguments of Samuel Huntington,
who has posited a "clash of civilizations" as part of his world-view, and the
actual foreign policy of the United States vis--vis its "containment" of Iran.
There are many difficulties in attempting to introduce a mentality of dialogue
into Iranian-American relationships. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution, Ayatullah Khameini, has emphasized the continuing spirit of
hostility in the two countries relationships, combined with the power imbalances
inherent in American-Iranian relationships. For many on both sides of the
conflict, building a relationship based on dialogue holds no normative value,
and there may be little incentive for either party to abandon the politics of
confrontation. There are also difficulties borne of Iran's political situation.
The tension between Ayatullah Khameini and the liberalism of President Khatami
will dominate any attempts to build a dialogue with the United States. Whatever
possibility there may be for a constructive dialogue of civilizations, it will
not occur in a vacuum. It will have to take into account the actual dynamics of
foreign policy and international relations.