Extremism, Muslim World and Dialogue of Civilizations

Explaining the conditions in which the theory of "Dialogue of Civilizations" came to existence, former Iranian foreign minister's deputy in international affairs, Ghola Ali Khoshroo, stated: "Following the collapse of Soviet Union and the end of cold war the world experienced a new stage from the aspect of having political blocks. Huntington pointed that situation out as the situation of domination of western civilizations in which new blocks were being formed and they would threaten the power of western technology and civilization. Huntington presented this fact as the theory of conflict of civilizations.

                                           براى مطالعه اين مطلب به زبان فارسى اينجا را کليک کنيد

This theory was not only expressing that fact but also was guiding American politicians towards a conflict with Islamic civilization. In such a situation, Islamic civilization shouldn't have had the power to make allies so that western civilization could become dominant and new independent identities wouldn't come to existence."

Mentioning the fact that Huntington warned American politicians that those new blocks might activate in western world, Mr. Khoshroo added: "This theory was a combination of reality, imagination and advice so different aspects of it have to be studied individually.

Huntington's advice is really dangerous since it expresses a concern and is after a strategy to cause dispute in Muslim civilization region in order to prevent Muslim countries from unity from one side and causing separation between Muslim civilization and other civilizations from the other side."

Khatami Could Draw the World's Attention to Dialogue

Regarding what ended in Iran's leadership in the theory of "Dialogue of Civilizations" Mr. Khoshroo added: During his presidency. Mr. Kkatami opposed violence and wars in the world as a religions and cultural personality. In other words he opposed the attitude towards Islam that believed Islam neglects others for its own sake.

"Mr. Khatami could draw world's attention to dialogue. His message to the world was based on the fact the world today needs co-operation instead of violence and that civilizations, preserving their basic principles, need to stand next to each other not against each other." he added.

Politicians Ought to Create Links between Civilizations

Former foreign minister's deputy in international affairs talked about politicians' duty to create links between civilizations so that they can collaborate and its certain requirement.

"If a civilization does not have a reliable identity it won't be able to have independent collaborations with others and at most a relationship such as a slave and master will be created, not one based on mutual collaborations which require good self understanding and clear perception of others. This relationship has to be based on a balance."

Khoshroo added: "In dialogue of civilizations, people, countries and governments learn from each other and experience a win-win situation but in a situation of one-sided domination the side under domination loses everything. When this idea was expressed the world after cold war welcomed and accepted it as all nations were concerned about Huntington's theory and commencing of civilization wars. Therefore, the world thought at that situation compromise and co-operation were the best things to set as goals for their activities."

The UN Supported the Idea of Dialogue of Civilizations for 5 Years

He also mentioned that: "when Mr. Khatami presented this idea at the UN in 2000, it was publicly accepted and the year 2001 was called "The Year of Dialogue of Civilizations", special programs wear made, seminars were conducted and the UN allocated a budget and supported the idea for 5 years."

Khoshroo who is at the moment in charge of the holding of Asian Parliamentary meeting, said about culture and its role in people's lives: "Culture is the way of living, because of differences between people there are various cultures. Culture was the way of living of the people when they lived in tribes before countries were formed. This way of living refers to geographical environment and habitat.

 Different people are different in all aspects such as the way they help each other, their attitude towards family, women and the way they look at mental issues such as rational and philosophic thinking."

An Important Issue in Social, International and Political Relations

Pointing out the special situation of Iran in the region and the world, Mr. Khoshroo continued: "Iran has a special situation in the world. Iran is a Muslim country and more importantly the representative of the Shiite in the world and our civilization has roots shared with our neighbor countries.

After the Islamic Revolution, the assumption that religion was a personal and forgettable matter in human life was gone and religion became the main issue in Iranians' everyday life which created a different condition in relation with the west. Iran proved it to the world that religion is not an issue to fade away from social life but it is a strong issue in decision making and forms social relations.

"In the western world this movement was given names such as fundamentalism and extremism. However, it was modern, rational and progressive. What happened was exactly the opposite of what westerners expected. Since this revolution was in nature against dictatorship and American domination, propagandas were started against the revolution and Islam cannot provide a successful life pattern. In spite of all these efforts, Iran had many achievements", he added.

The Theory of Dialogue of Civilizations Offset All Propaganda against Iran

To prove his claims he pointed out the unexpected participation of Iranian people in the elections and the fact that no other country in the region has this rate of participation and added: "In that situation, Iran's initiation to Dialogue of Civilizations introduced Islam as the religion of dialogue and compromise.

Iran has had a great role in human civilization and has witnessed changes of both west and east. Therefore, the situation of Iran in the past makes it successful in introducing this subject. Choosing Mr. Khatami was unexpected and a sign of vast participation of Iranians. All these prepared a good atmosphere for Mr. Khatami to talk and completely offset all the propaganda against Iran.”

Extremists Push Muslim World to a Point without Return

Khoshroo also explained the reason the world showed interest in “Dialogue of Civilizations” for its compliance with the facts of our world today and added: “After this idea was expressed, due to Iran’s history and Mr. Khatami’s cultural personality, the atmosphere of the world was ready for reform.

 But for the value of it was not understood, violent extremism still exists in Muslim world. Extremism doesn’t comply with rational factors. In other words extremists act before they give their actions enough thinking and kill non-Muslims and Muslims. This is not an attitude based on people’s ideas or demands and is not an attitude to Islam as a passionate religion and even their perception of it is not a social one.

But it is a superficial perception of “Jihad” which has become the basis of all their actions so they kill top create terror and threat and this leads to American monopoly in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact two extremist groups (the US government and Muslim extremists) are pushing Muslim world towards a point without return.

In this situation “Dialogue of Civilizations” has turned from an advice to a necessity. At this point it is very important to put destructive weapons down and sit at negotiation tables.”

Former deputy of Iranian foreign minister in international affairs also pointed out the misperception about “Dialogue of Civilizations” and added: “Dialogue of Civilizations is an original idea and should not be considered a cover for Iranian nuclear program. Nuclear issue is an unreasonable pressure from western countries on Iran’s nuclear technology.

 Demands of these countries are more beyond the conditions of NPT and are being imposed on Iran in the situation that Iran can leave the treaty whenever it wants. Iran has certain rights due to duties it has accepted and defends them. It was not necessary to bring up this issue as a political-security one and has been explained to the world in a distorted way.”

“The attitude of the world to Iran is a negative one which might be due to the fact that after Saddam, Iran has to be under pressure so that it won’t become the only power of the region. Westerners are putting Iran under pressure so we can say Iran has enemies”, he added."

Using Culture as a Means is So Dangerous

Khoshroo continued mentioning that Mr. Khatami had a compromising attitude and wanted to reach a guarantee through dialogue with the west and east.

 He said: “Khatami wanted us to be less dependant in our economic relations and wanted us to have a complementary role so that our actions would have lower costs. For Mr. Khatami culture is an original issue but for many politicians of the world culture is a second-hand issue that doesn’t play an important role and is dependant on military force.

 I think culture has to direct military actions. It is true that as Habermaas says, culture is now fully under the shadow of security issues and politics but the world today needs culture to influence all aspects of life. Politics, economy and all other aspects need to be initiated with a cultural attitude.”

To suggest a solution for the present deadly anarchy in the world, he pointed out the role of culture and said: “Culture is the key to all our political, security and economic problems.

 By man’s becoming one-dimensional, Markuze means that he is giving up culture. It means that culture has to play its role in the society and mustn’t be used as a means since it is so dangerous, like abusing culture for the sake of economy to gain more profit from consumption market. But if culture is considered in production process, it will remain an important issue.”

In Today’s World Acceptance is Needed than Accusation

Khoshroo also talked about what he had seen during Mr. Mahatma's trips as the chairman of “International Organization of Dialogue of Civilizations” and said: “I have witnessed the surprise of scientists and politicians in developed countries as this idea was expressed. In the world today, dialogue, compromise, understanding and respect from various cultures to each other are what we need the most. To find a solution for the world problems we need to accept each other rather than accusing each other.”

Expressing his prediction about the future of “Dialogue of Civilizations”, he said: “The UN followed the idea for 5 years and its branches in the form of civil or private organizations came to existence in different countries. After deadly explosions in Spain and Turkey, prime ministers of these countries suggested alliance of civilizations due to anti-war attitude of their nations.

This was the same as “Dialogue of Civilizations” and many principles of it were those suggested by Mr. Khatami. To form this organization 18 cultural personalities from all over the world got together to find a solution for the current condition of the world and provide new generations with a precise image of civilizations and religions of the world. This organization tried to gather people from different cultural aspects so that they can find a solution together.