ISLAM & THE WEST: CLASH OR CONVIVENCIA?

John L Esposito

John L. Esposito is a Professor of religion and
international affairs and director of the Center for Muslim-Christian
Understanding at Georgetown University, and Professor of history and
international affairs at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He
has served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North
America, president of the American Council for the Study of Islamic
Societies, and as a consultant to the US Department of State. His books
include the forthcoming Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World (Oxford),
The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality, and Islam and
Politics

In recent years, there are those who speak of a clash of
civilizations, a clash between Islam and modern secular (or Judeo-Christian),
democratic values and culture or between Islamic civilization and the West.
Religious and cultural differences are emphasized over similarities; political,
economic, and cultural differences are necessarily equated with confrontation.
Areas of cooperation and the fact that most countries are primarily, though not
solely, driven by national and regional interests are overlooked or
de-emphasised.

The challenge in an increasingly global, interdependent world
is to recognize both competing and common interests. Cooperation can result from
common religious and ethnic backgrounds. However, more often than not it comes
from the recognition of common national and strategic interests. While a clash
of civilizations can become the clarion call that justifies aggression and
warfare, future global threats and wars will be due less to a clash of
"civilizations" than a clash of interests, economic and otherwise.

The challenge in the new millennium is one of pluralism and
tolerance. In a globally interdependent world, models of convivencia, based upon
mutual respect and understanding, which enable us to live together rather than
of confrontation are necessary. Across the Muslim world, from North Africa to
Southeast Asia, Muslims are generating fresh interpretations and models of
pluralism and tolerance based on a recognition of human equality and of shared
beliefs and values as well as the acceptance (though not necessarily agreement)
of religious and cultural differences are essential.