THE VISION
In the year 2000, President Mohammad Khatami of Iran called for a global Dialogue of Civilizations.
Believing in dialogue paves the way for vivacious hope; the hope to live in a world permeated by virtue, humility and love, and not merely by the reign of economic indices and destructive weapons.
Mohammad Khatami, President, Islamic Republic of Iran
That call was taken up by Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations and the year 2001 was proclaimed the international Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations.
The United Nations itself was created in the belief that dialogue can triumph over discord, that diversity is a universal value and that the peoples of the world are far more united by their common fate than they are divided by their separate identities. Alongside an infinite diversity of cultures, there does exist one global civilisation in which humanity's ideas and beliefs meet and develop peacefully and productively.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General
Events of the past two years make it clear that inter-civilizational dialogue is both a stark necessity and a path of great promise. In this spirit, we present the following proposal.
Recently, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, President of the International Movement for a Just World - JUST (Malaysia) has suggested a dialogue between Muslim cultures and Western cultures as a first step toward a global dialogue of Civilizations.
Three organizations have agreed to take up the challenge. The Interreligious Engagement Project (IEP21), the World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations (WCMIR) and the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) will play the principal organizing roles in the new initiative period.
THE PROJECT
Malaysia preparatory meeting for Dialogue of Civilizations Project, Kuala Lumpur 2002.
The Dialogue of Civilizations project is designed to engage the global Muslim community and the West in deeper encounter and dialogue in order to promote greater understanding, mutual respect, and cooperative common action. The project will be a multi-year undertaking, culminating in a Conference convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the next few years. The Dialogue Conference will be preceded by an continuing online dialogue to refine the themes, format, working sections, agenda, and draft plan for the event. The web-based consultations will also develop a series of recommended projects that will be implemented before and after the Kuala Lumpur gathering. These joint action efforts will address critical issues of peace, justice, and ecological sustainability.
The Kuala Lumpur Conference (not yet scheduled) will involve a well-prepared dialogue engaging broadly representative group of leaders, scholars, and activists drawn from the global Muslim community and from the West. In addition, a group of prominent leaders from the world's religions will play a prominent role in the work of the Conference.
OUTCOMES
- A visible demonstration of the potential for meaningful and productive inter-cultural, inter-civilizational dialogue at a very high level;
- A platform for the identification and exploration of major obstacles to harmonious relations between Islam and the West;
- The West hearing the authentic voices of Islam; Islam hearing the authentic voices of the West.
- New mutual media access for each side.
- The design and implementation of new educational programs to develop greater inter-cultural understanding, including popular educational textbooks and multi-media programs.
- The launching of significant, public, cooperative efforts to build a better world. Joint programs in non-violent conflict resolution, economic and social justice, and ecological sustainability. (Design, development, and implementation of a range of pragmatic projects should be a major focus of the email conferences and of the Dialogue event.)
POSSIBLE THEMES
A number of interconnected themes may be explored in working sections. Some suggested organizing themes include:
- Beyond the Clash of Civilizations
- The Future of Civilization
- Globalization and Hegemony in the 21st Century
- Religion and Violence
- Perspectives on Peace, Justice, and Ecological Sustainability
- Interreligious Dialogue and Engagement
- Cultural Diversity and Shared Values
- A Way Forward
PRINCIPAL PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
Principal partner organizations will share the major responsibility for design and implementation of the project. Each organization will designate a principal contact person. A Steering Committee of Partner Organizations with a representative from each of the five organizations will be responsible for the overall direction of the project.
- Interreligious Engagement Project (IEP21)
- International Movement for a Just World (JUST), Malaysia
- International Interreligious Peace Council World Council of Muslims for Interreligious Relations (WCMIR)
- WCMIR Australasia
INVITED SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
This is a partial list of groups and organizations that are being formally invited to participate in whatever way seems most appropriate to them in the Dialogue of Global Civilizations Project. The great majority of organizations listed have confirmed their participation. Others are now being approached on the recommendation of group members or associates.
Children of Abraham at the Dialogue of Civilizations Project launch, Parliament of the World's Religions, Barcelona 2004.
- The Abraham Family Journey: Study Group
- Academy of Civilisational Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- All-India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, New Delhi, India
- Aryana F. Productions, Beverly Hills, CA, USA
- Association for Global New Thought, CA, USA
- BenetVision, Erie, PA, USA
- Brueggeman Center for Dialogue, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Center for Partnership Studies, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
- Center for Regional and Neighborhood Action, Denver, CO
- Center for Religion and Ecology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Centro de Estudios Islamicos, Madrasah Imam ar-Rida, Barcelona, Spain
- Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn, MI, USA
- Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group, Helsinki, Finland
- Common Ground, Deerfield, IL, USA
- Congregation Kol-Haneshema, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of History, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
- Department of Religious Studies, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY
- Drew University
- Divine Life Society of South Africa
- Edinburgh Interfaith Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Edinburgh International Centre for World Spiritualities, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Educational Solutions, Klamath Falls, OR, USA
- Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University
- Focolare Movement, Center for Interreligious Dialogue, Rome, Italy
- Foundation of Arts and Science, Istanbul Turkey
- Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- German Muslim League, Bonn, Germany
- Global Dialogue Institute, Haverford, PA, USA
- Global Network of Religions for Children, Africa Regional Office, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Horn of Africa Peace and Development Organization, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
- Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Istanbul, Turkey
- Interfaith Center, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL, USA
- The Interfaith Center of New York, New York, NY, USA
- The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington (IFC), Washington, DC, USA
- Interfaith Encounter Association, Jerusalem, Israel
- Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, IL, USA
- International Association for Religious Freedom
- International Association of Sufism, San Rafael, CA, USA
- International Council for Muslim Women, New York, NY, USA
- International Interreligious Peace Council, Madison, WI, USA
- International Islamic University (IIU), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Interreligious Insight: a Journal of Dialogue and Engagement, UK and USA
- IQRA' International Educational Foundation, Skokie, IL, USA
- Islamic Foundation, Markfield, Leicester, UK
- Jesuit Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue, Rome, Italy
- Journalists and Writers Foundation, Harbiye-Istanbul, Turkey
- Leicester Interfaith Council, Leicester, UK
- Ministry of National Education, Ankara, Turkey
- Minorities Council of India, New Delhi, India
- Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), UK
- Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony (MCRRH), UK
- National Assembly, Abuja Nigeria
- Northbrook Islamic Center, Northbrook, IL, USA
- North Shore Congregation Israel
- Organization of Culture and Islamic Relations (OCIR), Tehran, Iran
- Peace Network Global, Asakashi, Japan
- Philip Merry Consulting Group, Singapore
- Political Science Department, University of Cairo, Egypt
- Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem, Israel
- Religious Studies Department, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Ripha University, Islamabad, Pakistan
- Rodef Shalom - Pursuer of Peace, Jerusalem, Israel
- Scherer Center, Spokane, WA, USA
- Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV)
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
- Temple of Understanding, New York, NY
- Thanksgiving Square, Dallas, TX, USA
- The Sufi Way, Hampshire UK; Boulder, CO, USA
- United Religions Initiative, San Francisco, CA, USA
- United Religions Initiative - Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- What's Working, Boulder, CO, USA
- Wheaton Franciscans, Wheaton, IL, USA
- The World Bank: Development Dialogue on Values and Ethics, Washington DC, USA
- World Commission for Global Dialogue and Spirituality, USA
- World Congress of Faiths, Oxford, UK
- World Fellowship of Interreligious Councils, Kerala, India
- World Information Transfer, Northampton, MA, USA
- World Union for Progressive Judaism, The Hague, Netherlands
