THE WEST VERSUS THE ARAB WORLD: DECONSTRUCTING THE DIVIDE.
The main geo-political and historical roots of the sense of divide existing between the Arab world and the West do not originate in any kind of clash of religious and cultural differences of an essential nature, but become rather from the different historical traumas suffered by the Arab world, both in their own specific history and in their thorny historical relations, Any attempt to reduce tensions should first recognize these different traumas. Too often in the media and the academic world different religious arguments are advocated to analyze purely political issues. It is only by recognizing the complex historical plight suffered by both groups that hostility and tensions can be diffused and reduced. This requires restraint in the media and the academic world, so that the political changes needed on both sides of the divide to reduce tensions and clashes can be encouraged.
Introduction: Globalisation and the Resurrection of Mega-identities
The nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth were dominated by the nation-state system and the secular nationalisms associated with it. But the Cold War recreated the forgotten sense of belonging to what could be called a mega-identity structure, as the Soviet bloc and the Western democracies confronted each other, with their respective institutions1 and ideologies2 in a hostile face-off, Such a confrontation between groups of diverse societies and nations had not been seen since the end of the Middle Ages, when Christendom and Islam constituted two different and opposed worlds. Its modern reincarnation was the East/West confrontation.
Georges Corm.
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