Your Excellency Dr. Najma Heptulla ,
President of the Council of the IPU,
Your Excellencies ,
Ladies and Gentlemen ,
I shall focus, in my address before you today , on culture, because culture in my opinion, is both security and identity. Speaking about culture today is indeed different from speaking about it two or three decades ago . The revolution in telecommunications and information technology has led to the globalization of culture.
Its spread has transcended barriers , distances and educated elites, reaching broader categories through international networks controlling
its production and distribution. It should be emphasized here that any world - wide proposal , in order to have legitimacy for all concerned, must be related to the various religious , cultural and legal traditions. If this can be done, globalization will not be perceived as a Western or American imposition on the rest of humankind . Globalisation will be accepted as a way to modernise and enlarge each tradition while remain faithful to its roots. By the same token , each tradition will discover that the challenges human beings faced for centuries were met in more or less similar ways. In doing so, different civil societies might be inclined to accept the other as a brother sharing the same human destiny and not as a potential enemy .
The scientific and technological revolution as well as the economic globalization process have opened up huge opportunities , which were not available before. At the same time , they have given the economic dimension precedence over everything else, including culture.
Cultural particularities have thus begun to emerge as defensive identities for peoples and cultural groups fearful of marginalisation and domination by other cultures . This fear has been exacerbated by the fact that the flow of "cultural commodities " is , in general , one sided. Countries of the South find themselves mostly receiving and consuming stereotyped cultural commodities from countries of the North that possess knowledge and technological superiority .
No doubt , voices raising the slogan that certain cultures are exclusively capable of achievement and meeting the challenges of the times have driven many peoples into defensive policies and positions as a way of safeguarding their cultural particularities and traditions .
Ladies and Gentlemen :
There is a difference between the recognition of the great contribution of Western culture to human civilisation and its impact on other cultures, on the other hand , and the claim that modern Western culture is alone capable of generating economic progress , democracy and modernity , on the other .
Such theses imply a kind of closed cultural racism , because they simply mean that no people , apart form those of the West or those who follow in the footsteps of Western culture , can achieve democracy and socio-economic modernity . However , despite these claims , the Arab - Islamic culture, for instance , urges the appreciation of work and its perfection, it calls for honesty in dealings and the use of knowledge for the good of mankind . Is it not true that Islam in the past , accomplished a kind of cultural and economic globalisation?
Is it not the case that Arab-Islamic civilsation spread along the old trade routes ? Is it not true that this civilisation interacted with other civilisations and sciences , such as Greek , Indian ,Persian , and others? Is it not the case that free and save trade went on for six centuries form the Moroccan - Atlantic coast to the shores of Malibar , an area that is part of the region I refer to as " the are of crises" , extending form Maghrab to the Arabian Sea , and form Sudan to north of the Caspian Sea ?.
Historically , the West has benefited form am added value " which gave it the opportunity to excel and achieve dominance. It is wrong , however , to take this historical juncture as an unchanging fact , as if history has come to an end because the West had chosen so . It is harmful to deal with each other on the basis of " the West and the rest" "Islam and the West , or " us and them" . The future we build together in a single world in which we recongnise the role of the other and its ability to contribute to the development and advancement of human civilisation .
Distinguished Parliamentarians,
As Much as the world moves towards globalisation , cultural particularities emerge . Multiculturalism has been a trait of the human race since time immemorial , and it will continue to be so despite the globalisation of the economy . The world will remain richer so long as its cultures are multifarious,harmonious and are leaving their doors open for give and take .
Ladies and Gentlemen ,
I would like to call on you to consider the code of conduct , which is the product of many years of dialogue among followers of the three monotheistic religions .This code of conduct clarifies the rights and duties . It urges beginning with commonality , embraces the principe of " no coercion " and the free flow of information .
It also calls for developing a framework for disagreement and accepting responsibility for words and actions at all levels . This code of conduct also emphasises the association between theology and practicality .
Human solidarity requires the convergence of various cultures within the scope of human civilisation , interacting without clashing and enriching each other. No culture is closed by nature or inclined towards violence . However, cultures that feel threatened may resort to self - defense when doors are slammed in their face , thus facing exclusion and renunciation with country rejection .
Comprehension , ladies and gentlemen , proceeds understanding, which can prevent the clash of civilisations . This comprehension can only develop out of interaction and dialogue, which overcomes stereotypes and eliminate misconceptions about the other . Thematic prorammes , similar to the Eramus and Socrates programmers which were developed in Europe after World War II , can go along way in helping to end stereotypes .
The false accusations directed against the Arab - Islamic civilisation are partially due to ignorance. For this civilisation was a global civilisation throughout its long history. Numerous peoples and cultures had coexisted and mingled within it . I wold like to recoginse in this context ,the initiative by President Jaques Chirac and the French government to open institutionalised dialogue with their Muslim community as a means for building better relations and on the basis of respecting the other and appreciation their contribution to society .
Ladies and Gentlemen :
In the agreements singed between the European Union and southern Mediterranean countries , as well as in the Barcelona process , culture does not receive the same attention given to economic , political or security issues . It is an afterthought to security and economics.
It is not possible , however , to deal with security in its narrow military sense , because the economic , social and cultural forms of security are also pre-requisites for stability .
Those who talk about extremism and fundamentalism are only thinking of religious fundamentalism - whether in the name of Islam , Christianity , Judaism , Hinduism or other religions . They tend not to recongnise another form of fundamentalism , namely , the new liberal fundamentalism, which is inherently exclusive .Liberal fundamentalism is new ideology with values opposed to the principle of solidarity .
Solidarity must remain a principle for achieving a social balance based on participation rather than violence and authoritarianism. It should be the principle of international cooperation for the realisation of humanitarian order that ensures peace in the world, thus moving from a culture of survival to a culture of participation, and finally to a culture of peace. If the primary motive underlying the establishment of the United Nations system is maintaining peace and cooperation for the development of nations , then it is worth mentioning that today's world is witnessing a unprecedented split between the rich and the poor , both horizontally , at the level of the single state and vertically between states and regions .
Allow me to refer here to the warning made by my dear friend President Vaclav Havel at the opening of Forum 2000 in Prague . He warned of the increasing polarisation of rich and poor : the human impact of unending population growth , the poison of ethnic hatred , and the insidious spread of weapons of mass destruction .
It was in the context of addressing these dangerous phenomena that a report , "Winning the Human Race" was issued by the UN Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI) . The report of the Commission , which I had the honor of co-chairing proposed "The New International Humanitarian Order" which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly .
Peace and stability in the world cannot be realised through a narrow concept of security that the fortunate , whether sates or social groups , adopt as a shield against what they perceive as a threat to their well - being .
We are used to talking about national security , national security, regional security , or food security . Is it not time that we started addressing cultural security based on a consensus over common ( or shared ) cultural values ?.
Ladies and Gentlemen .
You meet today within the framework of positive interaction , partners in a world which is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent and where borders are becoming less meaningful or even disintegrating. We are moving toward a single world with a single agenda : but we would like all peoples and all cultures to contribute to the formulation of this agenda so that it will reflect our mutual interests and concerns or single world with a single agenda formulated according to the value system of one culture - to the excursion of others- will be a world in which injustice and marginalisation will inevitable lead to conflict and further to war . However, " a single world with 1000 cultures ," as Professor Malita of the University of the Black Sea in Bucharest put it a world in which commonalties are the foundation and particularities as the cornerstones , will be characterised by cooperation . This is the only possible basis for common living and the joint action necessary for the construction of a brighter future in which all individuals and communities have the means to achieve their potential. We cannot overemphasis the importance of culture in our world, I, therefore, strongly advocate the proposal made earlier by Lord Menuhin to establish a "parliament of Cultures" composed of influential cultural figures .The time has come for us to work hand in hand for the causes in which we believe , instead of confining our efforts to merely renouncing what is wrong .
As political and social activists in the Balkans , Indonesia and South Africa said during my visited to their countries that have suffered the horrors of sectarian and ethnic strife, it is time we worked for something instead of just working against something . Let us work for something. Let us work for esablishinig a parliament of cultures that can be instrumental in crisis avoidance through second track diplomacy , that examines the cultural dimensions of conflict and presents its findings to decision markers . I can think of no one more able than the representatives of people and cultures to articulate visions for crisis avoidance .
I was quite pleased by the recent statement made by the leader of the religious communities in the Balkans calling for dialogue and reconciliation . I could not but feel saddened , however , about the missed opportunity of having possibly avoided the bloodshed in that region had the proposal, made by the Late President Ozal of Turkey and I , to set up a center for crisis avoidance in Istanbul in 1984 , materialeised .
I say this because I realise the importance of crisis avoidance centers as result of my involvement in the International Crisis Group , along with one of its finding member , my dear friend George Mitchell. The work of the ICG covers the Balkans , Ireland , Soweto, Jakarta and South Africa among other areas .
Distinguished Parliamentarians,
I call upon your august body to consider the proposal for establishing a parliament of cultures that will work towards reinforcing the role of human values in international politics and politics and policies, and contribute to the foundation of a new international humanitarian order .
I wish you all success in - your timely and important conference and God Bless you.