Clash of Civilizations or Clash of Perceptions?

2002 Report (Continued)


Program

MONDAY OCTOBER 28
11:00 a.m. Plenary Session I: Opening

Organizers' Introductory Remarks Mustapha Tlili Founder and Director, Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West (U.S.)

11:15 a.m. Break

11:45 a.m. Plenary Session II: Tribute to the Spirit of Al-Andalus

The session examined the legacy of Islamic Spain, an age of rich and profound thought across cultures. Speakers highlighted the patterns of cross-cultural interaction and religious coexistence that have inspired historians and diplomats, philosophers, and poets. The question was also asked whether the age of three seminal thinkers from different civilizations--Ibn Rushd, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas--provides historical roots for pluralism today.

Chairperson: Mustapha Tlili
Remarks by: Carmen Calvo Andalusian Minister of Culture (Spain)

Keynote speakers:

Al-Andalus as Paradigm of Pluralism

Jeronimo Páez López

Director, El legado andalusí (Spain)

The Age of Ibn Rushd, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas

Mohammed Arkoun

Professor Emeritus of Islamic Thought,

Sorbonne, France

12:45 p.m. Discussion

2:00 p.m. Adjournment for Lunch

4:00 p.m. Plenary Session III: Debating Civilizations

This session looked at the debate over civilizations that has led some to conclude that a clash is inevitable and others to speak of points of convergence between Islam and the West. Speakers placed the debate into perspective by explaining the reasons for the supposed clash as well as Muslim responses to the argument. The session asked whether a clash has in fact occurred, or whether the differences are a matter of perception. The extent to which the media influence civilizational perceptions and foster misunderstandings, in both the West and the Muslim world, was also examined, as were the responsibilities of the media and scholars in a world in which both governments and their radical opponents manipulate the communications industry for their own purposes. The question of the utility of civilizational analysis to policy makers and others ran throughout the discussion.

Chairperson: James Piscatori, Fellow, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and Wadham College, Oxford University (U.K.)

Islam Clashing with the West

Malise Ruthven

Author and former lecturer,

University of Aberdeen (U.K.)

Islam Coexisting with the West

Mohamed Sid-Ahmed

Author and Columnist, Al-Ahram (Egypt)

The Media and Civilizational Understanding

Karl Meyer

Editor, World Policy Journal (U.S.)

Commentator's Remarks

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne

First Vice Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Human Rights, Common Security, and Defence Policy,

European Parliament (U.K.)

5:00 p.m. Break

5:30 p.m. Discussion

8:00 p.m. End of Session

TUESDAY,29 OCTOBER

9:00 a.m. Plenary Session IV: Defining Islam

This session examined the critical debates, within Muslim societies and outside them, over how "Islam" should be viewed in the modern age. It addressed questions of lively contention today and presented a variety of viewpoints by asking: Who has the authority to speak for Islam? Is Islam naturally a political religion? If Islam fuses religion with politics, is this a recipe for political authoritarianism and intolerance? The panel also looked from the outside at how Westerners, especially Americans, view Islam as a religion and as a guide to social and political action.

This session examined the critical debates, within Muslim societies and outside them, over how "Islam" should be viewed in the modern age. It addressed questions of lively contention today and presented a variety of viewpoints by asking: Who has the authority to speak for Islam? Is Islam naturally a political religion? If Islam fuses religion with politics, is this a recipe for political authoritarianism and intolerance? The panel also looked from the outside at how Westerners, especially Americans, view Islam as a religion and as a guide to social and political action.

Chairperson: Mustapha Tlili

Who Speaks for Islam?

Omayma Abdel-Latif

Political Correspondent, Al-Ahram (Egypt)

Mohamed Talbi

Professor Emeritus of History,

University of Tunis (Tunisia)

Islam: A Political Religion?

Haji Mahfuz Haji Omar

Chief of Youth, Parti Islam Semalaysia (Malaysia)

Islam from the Perspective of the Other

James Phillips

Middle East Policy Expert,

Heritage Foundation (U.S.)

Commentator's Remarks

Hoda Badran

Chairperson,

Alliance for Arab Women (Egypt)

10:15 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. Discussion

2:00 p.m. Adjournment for Lunch

4:00 p.m. Plenary Session V: Using History

The purpose of this session was not to cover the history of Muslim-Western encounters exhaustively, but to provide an overview of the political instrumentality of this history. The session considered how history is used, at times, to score points for short-term political advantage and, at other times, to encourage meaningful dialogue across cultures. Participants asked: What role does historical memory play? And what are the implications of the Muslim search for "authenticity"? The discussions focused on why the debates over history--of more recent vintage as well as those of the distant past--are of importance to decision makers as they frame policy responses toward the Other.

Chairperson: Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne

The Political Importance of History

Richard Bulliet

Professor of History,

Columbia University (U.S.)

Historical Memory and Civilizational Difference

Abdesselam Cheddadi

Professor of History, University of Rabat (Morocco)

The Search for Authenticity

Hasan Hanafi

Professor of Philosophy,

University of Cairo (Egypt)

Commentator's Remarks

James Piscatori

5:00 p.m. Break

5:30 p.m. Discussion

7:30 p.m. End of Session

WEDNESDAY,30 OCTOBER

10:00 a.m. Working Group I: Political Islam

This working provided an overview of political Islam during the last two decades and considered the prospects for its future. Many have regarded Islamism as inherently anti-Western and highly mobilized, but others now speak of its incoherence and failure. The discussion reviewed Islamism's record of opposition to both Western and Muslim governments and as an influential force at home.

Chairperson: Hassan Hanafi

Rapporteur: Malise Ruthven

11:30 a.m. Break

12:30 p.m. Working Group II: Governance and Accountability

This working group considered the barriers to and possibilities for political reform and liberalization in Muslim societies. The narrow base of regimes, the entrenchment of corruption, and the potential for the democratization of Islam are consequential yet unresolved factors, and each was considered as a dimension of the future stability of the Muslim world and the unfolding Muslim-Western relationship. The implications of "good governance" for the strategies of governments--local ones as well as their external patrons and allies--and Islamists formed an important part of the deliberations.

Chairperson: Aleya El Bindari Hammad*

Member, Board of Trustees,

Alliance for Arab Women (Egypt)

Rapporteur: Malise Ruthven

2:00 p.m. End of Session

Back to the top.

© 2006, The Center for Dialogues: Islamic World - U.S. - The West

Site Map

Site by Bianchi