الإسلام والغرب: نحو عالم أفضل

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The Clash of Civilization: A Critique

binary nature of computer technology. Things are 0 or 1, black or white, Western or Oriental. Yet, Islam could serve as the West's favorite enemy image not because Islam is so strange, but because Islam is so similar to basic Western features. 11 Even Huntington admits that there is no more violence in Islam than in any other religion. 12 Next we might question the assumption that future conflicts will arise along cultural rather than national borders. a) This sounds to me like a doubtful proposition, influenced perhaps by the observation that nation States are less and less in control of matters. The process of globalization makes for instance national economic policies virtually impossible if they run counter to international trends. No country is any longer sovereign in terms of fiscal policy, interest rates, taxation, minimum wages and similar aspects. Not only are such matters now regulated increasingly by multinational organizations like the European Union or the WTO. Worse, thanks to the Internet international financial operators can escape national moves by instantly moving capital around the globe, with possibly devastating consequences for local economies, as Malaysia has learned the hard way. But that does not mean that military conflicts would now arise between civilizations, rather than between superpowers, lesser powers and their military alliances. b) Secondly, I believe that military conflicts all through history have always happened along cultural divides or fault lines. World War I and World War II were not only fought between the British, French, and German nations, but between British, French and German

11 Senocak, p. 55. 12 Die Welt, p.48.

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