Table de matières

‮It is time to build partnership

of civilizations

Ambassador Veriamin Popov*

Dear friends,

Terrorism, a common disaster and common threat, has come to our world, our joint house for everybody, which due to the globalization is transforming into the big, global village. Now this awful evil, like a cancer, affects and erodes all countries of the world without exception.

For the last six years the struggle against terrorism has become one of the main slogans of the international relations. But the results of this struggle are far from being satisfactory and encouraging, moreover, from year to year they're becoming more and more dejective.

Thus, the number of terrorist attacks worldwide increased by 25% between 2005 and 2006, and the death tolls from these incidents rose by 40%. The main victims of these strikes were civilians, non-combatants. More than 14,000 terrorist attacks took place in 2006 (approximately 11,000 - in 2005). These strikes claimed more than 20,000 lives (14618 - in 2005) worldwide. 6,600, or 45 percent, of the attacks against the civil targets took place in Iraq.

Afghanistan, the permanent conflict area, had 749 strikes in 2006, a 50 percent rise from 2005 when 491 attacks were tallied.

The Middle East and South Asia were mostly suffering from terror. More than 50% of those killed or wounded in terrorist attacks around the world, were Muslims.

1800 killed and wounded children were among the victims in 2006, a 80 percent rise from 2005.

Innocent civilians are becoming the main victims of the bloody Moloch.

Two points are required to break the dreadful spiral of violence.

It is necessary to realize, that the main breeding ground for the extremism, mainly religious extremism, are the conflict regions, the trouble spots of the world. The majority of them have long ago turned into a complicated and controversial mixture of geostrategic, territorial, economic, political, social and religious problems and disputes. But none of them could be solved by force. We have seen the use of force many times in the current history and this method proved its complete inefficiency and lack of prospects.

Hatred can only sow the seeds of hatred, violence gives birth to new violence. Blood cries for more blood.

That's why propagation and preaching of tolerance on the large scale is essential. Long, patient and diligent education and enlightenment activity is required as well as explanation of origins of different civilizations and cultures, the clarification of their values, their unique character and inimitable diversity.

Unfortunately, the recently appeared movement of dialogue among the civi-lizations did not attract the whole-hearted support and necessary aid in the world.

Those Western countries, which are trying stubbornly and with the persistence really worth a better use, to enforce and impose their own system of values and their views on the other world, are largely to blame for the failure of the Dialogue among the civilizations project.

That's why we propose to start a new international movement of partnership of civilizations. These fundamental principles must from the basis of this movement:

1- There are no and there cant's be any "upper" or "lower" civilizations, as well as there are no and there can't be any "upper" or "lower" cultures, races and peoples. All of them are constituting their own unique and inimitable contribution to the treasury of world culture.

2- All sides of the dialogue are to be considered as completely equal partners, that must listen to each other, do their best to understand each other and take into account each other's interests. A constructive and affirmative approach to the solving of all the existing issues and problems in the international affairs is possible only with the observance of the balance of interests of all the sides.

3- Any solution of the existing problems by force is completely unrealistic and impossible. The use of weapons may have a short-term effect only, but it always paves the ground for the new, much more dangerous and devastating challengers and dangers. It is impossible to enforce the solutions of the ethnic or religious conflicts by foreign intervention. So it seems good and reasonable to return to the idea of Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), that condemns the recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, renounces the war as an instrument of national policy and declares that all changes in policy, all the solutions of the conflicts should be sought only by peaceful means and be the result of a peaceful and legitimate efforts. At that time the mankind did not succeed in putting these noble ideas into practice. Now it may become possible.

4- Nowadays, when the shortage and lack of resources, mainly energy, the water shortage is increasing when the competitive struggle for their usage is becoming more and more tough, it is necessary to strengthen the existing mechanisms or, in case of necessity, to elaborate new schemes of dealing with these issues by economic, financial and juridical methods and means. The use of military power in economy is completely and absolutely intolerable.

5- It is necessary to form special international and regional centers of "preventive diplomacy", that should avert possible conflicts and prevent them from turning into crises and large-scale wars. Now these are the most important tasks. Unfortunately, the contemporary diplomacy is not always successful in dealing with them.

6- It is time to return to the idea of global disarmament, mainly nuclear disarmament. The mankind possesses its stocks, more than enough for he complete annihilation and destruction of all the results of human civilization. We should at last drop this dangerous path which could lead us to the collective suicide.

7- We should make all the achievements in various fields of science and technology, mainly in medicine and pharmacology, available for all mankind so that everybody could have free access to them, without discrimination.

8- We can not wait mercy from nature after that terrible damage, that we have inflicted on it. Proper response to climate change, combat global warming is becoming therefore one of the most important tasks to be solved. It is necessary to make our planet more cleaner and convenient not only for the "golden billion" of industrially developed countries, but for all of us.

Noteworthy, I should say symptomatic, that this international conference is taking place just at this particular country, in Tunisia it is a birthplace and a cradle of ancient and unique culture. Tunisia's policy, especially for the last two decades, gives an example of tolerance and of actual desire and eagerness to start a real dialogue among other religions. Thus, Tunisia which accumulates the best features of Arabic, African and other cultures, may become onf of the outposts of the civilizations partnership movement.

Thanks for your kind attention.

ـــــــــــــــ

(*) Ambassador at large in charge of liaison with the OIC, Russian.

Publications de l'Organisation Islamique pour l'Éducation, les Sciences et la Culture

-‬ISESCO‭- ‬1429H/2008