Listening. inclusiveness. tolerance. reciprocity.

• Author: Afrasiabi, Kaveh L.
• Position: Perspective - Dialogue among Civilizations

As the philosopher Wittgenstein presciently reminded us in Tractatus, the ways in which we look at the world to alter the world. The United Nations 2001 theme of "Dialogue among Civilizations" is a lofty initiative that has already moved into the global mainstream thought as a viable alternative to the siren voices of "coming clash of civilizations", according to whom the whole edifice of belief in dialogue, e.g. between West and East, rests on the edge of abyss.

A cursory tour d'horizon of "Dialogue among Civilizations" depicts, first and foremost, a trope for cross-cultural reconciliation promoting particular values-the discovery of shared beliefs and concerns, regulation of disputes through communication, and the pursuit of normative consensus on global civility, such as with respect to minority rights. It invokes a new imaginary of world community, one that is inclusive rather than exclusive, which celebrates diversity instead of succumbing to the forces of global barbarism, above all, racism and ethnic cleansing. Thus, it spurs the imagination of the earth's inhabitants toward cross-cultural learning, providing them with a perceptual predis-position to perceive harmony and cordial relations among nations and ethnic groups, following the premise that through dialogue we can cultivate deeper and more direct experience of cultural traditions other than our own.

This is indeed a conditio sine qua non for a global "ethics of care for the other", spearheaded by towering thinkers from Tagore to Buber to Schweitzer, to mention a few salient ones. "Dialogue among Civilizations" follows the UN Charter's mandate "to develop friendly relations among nations" and is in tune with the UN leadership's recent efforts to turn the United Nations system into a more proactive "epistemic community" sui generis, enabling it to map out creative adjustments to a rapidly changing and increasingly complex international milieu. Thus, to properly gauge the significance and (potential) implications of the UN theme, we must take into consideration the Organization's evolving standards, casting a wider net of its identity than ever before.

While the United Nations was incepted as an intergovernmental global forum operating within the paradigm of "nation-state sovereignty", this never precluded it from simultaneously couching itself in a larger, albeit more latent, frame of reference, namely, the United Nations as the site in potentia for world governance and...