Contents

The Greater Mediterranean

Modernity, the West and Islam:

From Dialogue of Cultures to Alliance

of Civilisations

Prof. Michele Capasso(*)

Introduction

First of all, I wish to extend my wholehearted thanks to my friend, Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri for inviting me to this symposium that coincides with a peculiar juncture in history. This event also comes at a particular moment in the relations between the West and the East, mainly between the Mediterranean, Europe and Islam.

Muslim societies in the Middle East and the Far East are responding to the Western dynamics that take the name of globalization by setting off a chain of reactions which are fundamentally hostile and often violent.

In this connection, Western thinking replies with a mistaken question reflected by the title of a short and important essay by Bernard Lewis, what went wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. What was "missed" should not be sought in history, but rather in the terms of the Islam and Modernity issue, the purport of which should be re-examined.

Islam is a common denominator by which all the Muslim world is represented despite its diversity: a general concept wherein the Western historical imagination -which has been developed throughout the centuries- puts together several unconscious inferences. The term of “Islam” designates a society where the State is despotic and civil life is ruled by the religious laws of Quran. However, modernity too is a common denominator referring to a society founded on human and not on divine law, on juridical equality and equal access to political representation. While Islam is the static representation of a diversified and dynamic reality, modernity is the static abstraction of diversified realities and realities in process. That is the reason why modernity can not identify itself with the West and Europe of today. As a matter of fact, modernity is a societal project which came about in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment and was developed in the era of Positivism. Its basic principles are indispensable for the complexity of modern life which can not adapt the structures that were adequate to past lifestyles. However, while the world of Islam has to face problems resulting from a lack of modernity –as the affirmation of the individual right and democracy- the West suffers from excessive modernity: speediness, rationality, lack of solidarity, and anomaly of collective environment are the new problems of a post-modern society.

Therefore, the problem of Islam and modernity is not the opposition of two antagonist forces. Rather, it is a three-dimensional problem: Islam, the West and modernity: two historic realities and a critical common area; a problematic situation where each one sees the expression of one’s own failure in the eye of the other; a shared universe where the logics of the global big capital make the European West and the Mediterranean seem to be more and more peripheral with regard to the spheres of control. On the global scene, New York and Beijing are not Cairo and Casablanca, but they have in fact taken the place of London and Paris as a common destination.

If this question is presented in two terms, it would create a political opposition, but if it is put in terms of three dimensions, it would not set Islam and the West in contrast. It would rather call for a solidarity policy to move together in a parallel and agreed-upon evolution toward the same end even if their starting points are different as are the distances of their ends and objectives. Cooperation is a must not only in the interest of Islam but also in that of the West as the West, in this process, does not go forward in a straight line, but it has its pauses and setbacks.

The Mediterranean, Europe and Islam have a vital interest in following a different path from the one toward which the United States’ crusades and the fundamentalist Islamic response push. The path of cooperation and understanding is the only way for each of the three parties. A policy of cooperation and solidarity is an urgent matter. One should not forget that the European civilisation is deeply indebted to Islam for Western Europe owes, to a large extent, its awakening to the Islamic civilisation. Time has come to pay back this debt. Unfortunately, we have not chosen this path. Very often, modernity is not given to Islam in ways to promote its equality, but rather through structures aiming to highlight its submission. This leads to its erosion even in Europe. The destiny of Islam and that of Europe are more connected than one might think.

These considerations constitute the basis of the intensive work the Fondazione Mediterraneo that I have the honour to preside, has been undertaking for 12 years now. During this period, we have endeavoured to promote, through concrete actions, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership by targeting the creation of a “network for dialogue between societies and civilisations”. Within this network, the civil society organisations in Member States- particularly local communities, universities, corporate organisations, professional orders, unions, NGOs, associations’ networks, the media, etc- are recognized as the key factor to achieve progress in the fields of fundamental rights, political security, culture, economy, sciences, sustainable development, communication and information.

For the next five years, the action of the Fondazione Mediterraneo will aim at the establishment, as of today, of the Greater Mediterranean: a historical and strategic issue that develops in connection and inter-dependence with the countries of the Middle East, the Gulf and the Black Sea. To meet this goal, the Fondazione Mediterraneo enhances international understanding through the promotion of a better knowledge of identity, social and cultural realities that make up the Greater Mediterranean. It also encourages a closer interaction in order to enhance shared values and interests in total respect for the fundamental rights of the human person and gender equality by mainly developing intellectual cooperation and training of human resources in multi-disciplinary contexts.

Our work as a whole is based on the principle of equality, sovereignty and dignity of peoples as well as respect for pluralism, cultural diversity, fundamental rights of individuals and democracy. We have so far worked far from sterile bureaucracy and all our resources have been directly used on the field. The many partnership agreements signed with partners of the civil society and institutions participating in various projects- as well as the quality and the quantity of the actions carried out- are indicators of the considerable impact achieved and the concrete outcome reached.

The Mediterranean area is an ancient geographical and political space; it also constitutes a representation that encompasses today the need for inter-cultural dialogue, peace, harmonization between innovation and tradition, individual rights and social solidarity.

The Mediterranean has, for a long time, gone through tensions, crises and conflicts that have torn apart a peaceful and prosperous cohabitation. The renewed outbreak of terrorism and the risk of a profound division between those who believe in dialogue and those who head straight to the clash of civilisations call for a further commitment by governments and the civil society organisations in order to promote a coalition of shared values and interests.

The numerous initiatives undertaken so far for the pacification and development of the region have produced only partial and inadequate progress. The feeling of hope that the region experienced with the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (initiated in 1995 by the European Union via the Barcelona Process) as well as similar initiatives have now come to a deadlock.

Within a highly distressing international context, the Fondazione Mediterraneo has kept to work on the field and has rejoined forces of dialogue and reason. However, the real enemy, besides resignation, is the void complacency of those who superficially placate problems hoping to dissimulate them.

The Mediterranean should no longer be the subject matter of political programs elaborated outside the area itself. On the contrary, it should formulate its own strategies as direct expressions of the needs of its peoples. For this reason, being aware of the risks of disintegration and exclusion of the Mediterranean region, the Fondazione Mediterraneo has decided to undertake the creation of the Greater Mediterranean. We are fully aware of the importance of the political solution to the crises as well as economic cooperation. Yet, we are convinced that cultural exchange between the civil society organisations is the real indicator of good relations between the countries of the region.

Another important lesson we can learn from this experience is that we should not create artificial barriers within the Arab world and separate its Mediterranean countries from those of the Gulf.

In order to further relations based on trust, we will need to extend dialogue to an enlarged Mediterranean or Greater Mediterranean to enable the latter to be master of its own destiny. Going beyond the perception of “the other” to reach an understanding of the feelings of fear and hope that prevent cultures from getting together at a global level would be the adequate instrument to help us rise above the “exacerbated sense of identity” and overcome feelings of fear, mistrust and hatred to subsequently dry out the streams feeding violence and terrorism.

Among the ways to attain the objectives set out, the Fondazione Mediterraneo has created the Maison de la Méditerranée, a physical and virtual space -having bureaus in several countries- acting as a tool to increase the visibility of the Greater Mediterranean institutions and to develop strategies of meeting, information, communication and training.

The Fondazione Mediterraneo is one of the institutions which promote Dialogue among Cultures, thanks to its presence within international organizations. It is the Head of the Italian Network of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. It is also Founding Member of the non governmental Euromed Platform, Member of the Youth Euromed Platform and an Observer Member at the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. Moreover, it supports, through its members, the UN program “Alliance of Civilisations”. So, what are the actions that our Foundation has planned to carry out, along with its partners, in order to transform “Dialogue of Cultures” into a real “Alliance of Civilisations” that can be tested in the Greater Mediterranean?

The major action lies in setting up a coalition of shared values and interests between the countries which, throughout the centuries, have been active around the Mediterranean in a continuous link with major cultural and political experiences of the past: a tradition of synergies, sometimes tumultuous and troubled, but from which an indissoluble interdependence arose, stronger than all contrasts, hostilities and wars.

1- The Coalition will act on the field of realities, while developing models and programmes for cultural and material growth within the region, based on the concepts of equal dignity and mutual respect among different cultural identities - acknowledging that these peoples have their own principles and values, but at the same time must be open to exchange and comparison. Specificity and rich traditions along with shared interests and actions : the line between specificity and shared values will be the raison d'être in respect of the fundamental human rights and will represent for the Foundation a commitment to take up new common challenges, such as the right to equality between men and women.

2- Reconciliation in the Greater Mediterranean requires, first of all, search for solidarity in development. Young people must receive an education and professional training in order to overcome obstacles to their personal development. A great effort is necessary to allow for equal integration of young graduates in the professional life. To this end, the Fondazione Mediterraneo will undertake action aiming expressly to identify the necessary specific trainings in line with the new opportunities in the labour market of the Greater Mediterranean.

3- The Fondazione Mediterraneo, given its vision and being fully aware of the contradictions within Mediterranean societies -unemployment, poverty, technological and organisational shortages, centralization of decision-making powers, etc.- promotes studies and research aiming at improving university systems, mainly in the scientific fields. To this end, a feasibility study will be conducted for the setting up of a distance university of sciences of the Greater Mediterranean.

4- Openness to universal knowledge will not be to the detriment of the deep-rooted cultures at the local level and will have instead to merge tradition, modernity and innovation. Commitment to dialogue is part of the need for new policies where mutual cultural respect supports the defence of individual human rights. Here lie indeed the new frontiers of social experiences where intensive migration processes have brought communities belonging to distinct faiths and cultures to live together. The Fondazione Mediterraneo will continue to open, on a gradual basis, sub-regional branches of the Greater Mediterranean in order to promote a set of publications on the traditions to be highlighted in the region, even through ethnic cultural and ethnic music events as well as symposia to set comparisons between the origins and the evolution of these traditions.

5- Fostering prosperity entails the promotion of a labour division and the development of comparative advantages. Indeed, it is the proper way to spur investments. Protection of human rights and those of marginalized social classes and areas should nonetheless be undertaken in consideration of market rules, while combining performance and solidarity. The Fondazione Mediterraneo will make every endeavour to boost the highest flow of investments, based on trust, through procedures likely to improve mutual acceptance of value systems, by highlighting their natural tendency to co-exist and grow together, after the elimination of all factors that give way to economic and social disparities.

6- The setting up of the Mediterranean society, with well-consolidated shared principles and values, is incompatible with the clash of civilisations, the use of force and the violent upheaval of the international political and social order. Those who advocate the ideology of evil, instigate division and encourage mortification must be morally isolated, especially if we fail to uproot the seeds of dissension. The Fondazione Mediterraneo will spare no effort so that the international factors which cause or might cause prejudice to human dignity are no longer ignored.

The Greater Mediterranean is not meant to extend the myth of “Mediterraneanness” to a larger space. It is rather intended to challenge the rhetoric of a mental space where differences and common visions are invalidated by an artificial and superficial representation. Our Greater Mediterranean is made up of different men and women who may even be in conflict but who nonetheless want social justice and democracy.

That is the reason why when we speak of the Greater Mediterranean, we do not mean an abstract entity stuck in ancient times, but we rather speak about women and men belonging to the 21st century, who want to govern global processes in order not to be devoured and subordinated.

Recognizing that the West and Islam are born in the same cradle is not an act of subordination, but the recognition of the truth which should underlie the most important “Alliance of Civilisations” wherein the Mediterranean, Europe and Islam are the fundamental pillars on which we should build our future. This will not be possible unless we succeed in transforming the multiple “Identities of Being” into “Identities of Doing” and only if we are, all together, able to transform “Love of Power” -which is nowadays omnipresent- into “Power of Love”: an indispensable element to secure a shared development and peace, not only in the Greater Mediterranean, but on a global scale as well.

(*) President of the “Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo”.

Publications of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

-ISESCO- 1428H/2007 A.D