Khatami Speaks of Dialogue among Civilizations
The former Iranian president contextualizes the story from the emergence of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ theory: “Dialogue among Civilizations should be studied in its context. In what atmosphere did it emerge? What was the necessity? Where are we standing now? Has it made any difference?”
“Long before Soviet Union’s collapse” Khatami said, “Richard Nixon, the former US President, posed a question in his book: Who is the enemy of the free world (or the US)? He referred to the age-old rivalry between the USSR and the US during the Cold War. Generally, the ‘hegemony system’ is in constant need of an enemy and defines itself through battle with a hostile entity. Nixon was an intelligent man: he put forth a fundamental issue and ventured that the days of Soviet Union’s glory and power were over and Islam was their [Americans’] future enemy. That is, the West should define itself with an eye on this major rival. Islam is ascending and Muslims, relying on their historical identity, are a threat to Western civilization and interests,” Khatami added.
He also said: “Samuel Huntington, the famed US theoretician who collaborated with the Council of Foreign Relations [CFR] and whose articles were published in Foreign Affairs for the first time, also directs focus on the matter of “Clash of Civilizations”; that is, in the upcoming decades the basic clash is between cultures and civilizations, hence his seminal book “The Clash of Civilizations”. Some consider it a [descriptive] theory, but some believe it’s the future strategy of the West—it defines its identity and interests through this clash.”
Dialogue among Civilizations Is Not Political in Nature, but Has Political Ramifications
The Chairman of the Baran Foundation underscored that “the idea of clash of civilizations was worrisome enough for anyone who was concerned about the fate of humankind, particularly for us, who live in the Third World, the South and the Muslim World. Regardless of the ideological face of the problem -and the fact that we are a member of the Muslim World- we are a part of what is called the developing, underprivileged or colonized world and the quality of this clash was our concern, considering our past experiences in facing the West, either in its colonial guise or its neo-colonial face.”
Pointing to his inclusion of Dialogue among Civilizations during the 1997 presidential elections, Khatami said: “During my presidential campaign in early 1997, I proposed as one of the key points of my plans that we can promote dialogue -instead of war- among civilizations. This was a principle of our diplomacy during my presidency. In 1998, the idea was submitted to UN which resulted in naming 2001 as The Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. Although Dialogue among Civilizations is not primarily and naturally political and runs deeper beneath the surface, it inevitably has political ramifications”.
The Head of the International Center for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations elaborated on the difference between dialogue, negotiation and debate: “We can have three types of verbal-intellectual relations with others: negotiation, debate and dialogue. By negotiation, we refer to political talks revolving around interests. Here, the focus is what we gain. The more powerful side is the one that achieves more and balance of power usually leads to a win-win situation. In debate, there are two different opinions opposing each other, each trying to prove the veracity of their statements and positions. Each party openly seeks to refute the ideas of the other or more covertly, tries to provide the reasons to show it is the betraying the right ideas. Debate takes place usually in the field of faiths. Dialogue is neither negotiation nor debate. Dialogue is a current, and begins based on commonalities. It aims to provide knowledge and understanding which eventually leads to cooperation.”
Khatami added that: “While negotiation and debate focus on differences, dialogue is based on commonalities. The goal is to reach for mutual knowledge and coexistence, and peace (and perhaps political achievements) can be gained from dialogue.”
Our Terms for Negotiations with the US Were Not Met
The former president of Iran also said: “Many deemed the Dialogue among Civilizations as “gesture” politics that Iran introduced to negotiate with the Americans. During my presidency, as a politician and key enforcer of the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy, I naturally paid attention to political negotiations. However, our terms and conditions for negotiations weren’t met. It may have been ours or the US’ fault. That is a different story.”
He added: “Dialogue among Civilizations concerned the unappealing situation that was developing, namely a political, largely ideology-based, war between two powerhouses that was turning into cultural and civilizatiions war. The outcome was supposed to be the full domination of one civilization with all its entirety and obliteration of the other as the enemy. This was a dangerous phenomenon.”
Khatami also said: “Once I was asked about my advice to the US and I said that the United States should dispense with the belief that it is the elder brother of Western and European countries. It should forget about its master-servant relationship with the Third World and as a power that has garnered so much of its wealth and power from all over the world—it ought to instead use this power for peace and development of the other countries. It should not define its interests in contradiction to the others’. It is only thus that it can solve its problems with the world.”
Human Conscience Embraced Dialogue among Civilizations
The former Iranian president referred to the international atmosphere after the Soviet Union’s dissolution and said: “The US believed that after the USSR’s breakdown, as the West’s older brother it is the rightful, qualified representative of Western civilization, culture and economy. Its archrival had left the stage, so it thought that the only superpower existing should be the US and others had to function as its satellites. Even Europe was viewed from that prism. This did not happen however, and after the Soviet Union’s collapse the concatenation of events moved in a different direction. The US changed its behavior, resisted unwanted changes and most unfortunately, at the beginning of the new millennium we witnessed the country engage in heavy conflict.”
Khatami added: “On the one hand was the US that treated its contended enemies violently, and on the other hand we saw terrorism in its most violent and ugliest form. There were struggles in the Middle East and other regions, in Europe, in the Balkans in particular; we witnessed unlikely wars that could be easily labeled as religious wars. The world was oddly terrified and sensed that a war of civilizations has broke out. Against this backdrop, human conscience embraced the Dialogue among Civilizations and the theory of clash of civilizations was disproved. A reality was unveiled: that deepening civilization disputes can bring about much greater damage than the political and ideological battles of WWII and the Cold War. Unanimity over the Dialogue among Civilizations proposal was a proof of that.”
Khatami, who first launched the Dialogue among Civilizations initiative, also stated that: “No proposal gained as much support in the UN as Dialogue among Civilizations. With full support of the Third World and the Muslim World, 2001 was proclaimed as the ‘Year of Dialogue among Civilizations’. Kofi Annan, then the Secretary General of the UN, appointed a special representative on the initiative and for ten years, the United Nations held a special bureau for Dialogue among Civilizations.”
Khatami pointed to the global reception of the Dialogue among Civilizations initiative and said: “it was not merely politically-motivated, but also intellectually and culturally welcomed. A good word is not always the word that is attended to. There have been many valuable ideas throughout history that have been either rejected in their own time or just appreciated centuries later. But when an idea is warmly received, it shows that it was awaited for in its own era and I think when we look back, this was what happened with “Dialogue among Civilizations”. It created a wave across the world.”
According to Khatami, “Tens of chairs were established in well-known universities across the world, institutes were established for Dialogue among Civilizations, hundreds of books were written, and hundreds of international seminars and conferences were held, many of which I personally attended or sent a representative or a message. Thousands of papers and hundreds of theses were authored in famous universities.”
Alliance of Civilizations Is Not an Alternative to Dialogue among Civilizations
Khatami also pointed to the Alliance of Civilizations’ initiative set forth by Spain’s and Turkey’s prime ministers, Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “It implies that we have passed the Dialogue among Civilizations’ stage and are moving into the practical stage, where civilizations should form an alliance. Subsequent to the proposal, Kofi Annan, in the final year of his term, appointed 18 personalities, including me, as senior members of a committee to discuss the initiative. Four or five key meetings were held and a charter was developed. Naturally, the Alliance of Civilizations, which is supported by two countries, enjoys better facilities. They have a powerful secretariat, plus a well-known secretary general, Portugal’s former president Dr. Jorge Sampaio.”
Head of the International Center for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations added: “I have attended two important conferences in Mallorca and Istanbul. I could not take part in the third meeting held in Brazil due to some problems and I preferred to send a message. Alliance of Civilizations is now active, but as I said in those conferences, it cannot replace “Dialogue among Civilizations”. Dialogue is an intellectual-cultural move that should go forward in bringing hearts closer together.”
On Turkey’s role in the Muslim World and its efforts to bring civilizations closer, Khatami stated: “Turkey has had many successes and with the [constitution amendment] referendum they have held, they saved their democratic face, although they are Islamists; the European Union is more comfortable with the present situation in comparison to the days of secular rule. They [the AK Party] are behaving wisely. They are trying to be in the center, especially against political Islam, which is more orthodox and serious. Considering the violent, radical movements that exist, this is a logical move. Turkey aims to present a model that is consistent with today’s standards while appealing to Islamic movements. I think Mr. Erdogan is using the opportunity well, and currently he and his team have an outstanding position in both the international community and in the Muslim World. Alliance of Civilizations can be a means for this policy and they have proved successful, though [even] the Dialogue among Civilizations has not been realized yet, and so there is a long way to an alliance of civilizations.”
Adding that ‘peace’ has become the top priority once again, Khatami said: “unfortunately the confrontation between those who advocate radical ideas, the extremists, either those in power and those who fought against them, has created a violent and tough war. There was widespread terrorism on one side and war against terrorism on the other. After 9/11 the US president [George W. Bush] spoke of alliance for “war on terror”. In the last year of my presidential term, I proposed an alliance for peace based on justice, which fell on deaf ears in the fanfare following the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe that calls for peace are echoing once again. Several seminars have been held to which I was invited, and I have been asked to follow the issue of peace as a sequel to Dialogue among Civilizations.”
We Are Not Going to Receive Aid from Anyone
In his interview with Iranian Diplomacy, Khatami also elaborated on his plans to advance Dialogue among Civilizations: “The International Institute for Dialogue of Cultures and Civilizations is established abroad and enjoys a powerful support base. Of course, in terms of financial resources, we are not in a good state, as we refrain from appealing for funds. When Nelson Mandela established the Nelson Mandela Foundation, he received financial aid from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Iran. Similar foundations, run by former presidents, usually gather a number of wealthy figures and openly receive financial aid to carry on their projects. We did not do that, though we were independent and receiving money we would not imply that we obeyed the donators. But we were not wishing to act in this way at all, that is, to designate a bank account for donations. We did not even receive a penny, because we don’t want to lose our independence.”
Khatami also stated that: “Even with these rudimentary arrangements, we ran synergy-based projects. One case was the exceptionally welcomed conference held in Tehran two years ago, attended by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and some other famous international figures. We also cooperate with institutions and universities that ask us.”
Khatami referred to two projects related to Dialogue of Civilizations he has in mind: “We lack the basic resources. There are two key projects that due to lack of those resources –I don’t want to say they are out of question- are on a moratorium. A construction project that I intended to conduct during my presidential term was a site that served as a memorial for different civilizations. Every country would be designated with its own area to build and decorate. It could be a sort of foundation or organization for civilizations in which representatives would invest and take part, and a venue for holding meetings and exhibitions. It was not materialized, however. I wished to carry out this plan in Iran or any other country, or even in our office in Europe, but its basic requirements, including a multi-hectare land purchase should be provided first. Although the plan is now on a freeze, it is not fully out of the question”.
Multi-Million Budget Needed for Dialogue among Civilizations’ TV Channel
About the idea of running a TV channel for his initiative, which he had spoken about two years ago, Khatami said: “Dialogue of Civilizations needed a voice and the most important constituent was to establish an international TV channel. Its main material would be reports, round-table discussions, related artistic, cultural and cinematic works beneficial for dialogue of civilizations; [it would function as] a creditable broadcasting network in Persian and English. Of course it needed a budget, which we estimated. The required budget may have not been considerable for similar organizations, a few million dollars could have helped start of the project; however, even that amount was not available for us.”
Khatami added: “The draft plans exist. We had even ordered the logo and signature tunes. [Famous Iranian composer] Mr. Loris Cheknavarian had interesting projects that were based on the principles of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Iranian culture. Like they say, “we wanted to be good horseback riders, but we only had the horseshoe and were still looking for the horse.””
I Attend Important Meetings
Head of the International Center for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations also said “For things that happened last year and could have been prevented –and I hope things get better as soon as possible- the whole plan turned somehow inactive. We have not abandoned it, however, and the world expects us to be dynamic. In the period we turned inactive, requests and expectations and calls for cooperation were not less than before, if not actually more. If God-willing I’m alive, I will carry on with my responsibilities and I hope their fruits will benefit the entire world.”
Khatami added: “I have many invitations. I can’t give a positive response to all of them, but if I can, I will definitely join the important ones, otherwise, I will send a message, either through videoconference or an envoy. I have three special plans which I will announce when they become 100% certain”.