East-West relationships, a complex phenomenon

Muhamad Ali, Lecturer, Jakarta State Islamic University

In the wake of the Bali, Baghdad and Jakarta terrorist attacks, I would like to share my view of contemporary East-West relationships. I have seen examples of a clash of ignorance, if not a clash of interests, rather than a "clash of civilizations".

Anti-Westernism, on the one hand, and anti-Islamism on the other have indeed been on the rise since the end of the Cold War. Both are a very complicated phenomena, as people live in an environment where deeply held religious and cultural values exist alongside powerful special interests, intense emotions and not a few psychopathic personalities.

Westerners wondered why such anti-U.S. sentiments emerged in some Muslim areas, even in Indonesia where the majority of Muslims are moderates. People in the Muslim world equally wondered why Americans hate Islam.

While anti-American sentiment can be said to be a product of specific U.S. government actions or foreign policies, coupled with rampant cultural misunderstandings and theological underpinnings, anti-Islamism emerged either as a response to this anti-Americanism or as a potent sentiment created by ignorance.

As many Americans misperceive the rest of the world, America is equally a vastly misunderstood paradox, partly because of media distortions and cultural misunderstandings. Both Western and Eastern media have contributed to these distorted perceptions.

Yet, sentiments are often there. Sentiments have to do with both perception and reality. The realities have been always more complex than the perceptions, but the latter often matters the most. Paradoxically, it is misinformation and narrow-mindedness that characterize today's information age. The challenge to globalization is globalization itself. Globalization seems to have educated human beings, but also to have facilitated them to become more resistant to others.

In many cases, anti-Western sentiment is also related to the rise of political fundamentalism, as a reaction and challenge to modernization and Westernization. While modernization is accepted as a means of building a viable state and improving standards of living, it is often confused with Westernization.

In some parts of the Muslim world, opponents of Westernization see a zero-sum relationship with Islam; a gain for one meaning a loss for the other. Even "neo-fundamentalists" show antipathy toward their fellow believers who try to accommodate "Western" ideas (democracy, human rights, civil society, pluralism) because they believe this will have fundamental effects on the nature of Islamic praxis.

Radical fundamentalists remain convinced that since the Crusades the Western world has been engaged in a campaign to destroy Islam and "Islamic civilization" and humiliate Muslims. Obviously in Southeast Asia the colonial legacy in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have done much to exacerbate this. In the minds of radical fundamentalists, there is a close relationship between Western imperialism and Christian missions.

Globalization is seen by fundamentalists as a new form of economic imperialism contributing to the impoverishment of the Islamic world, particularly by the U.S. It is perceived that the U.S. cultural imperialism encourages immoral behavior and crime, fragments the community, puts individual rights ahead of individual obligations and supports the privileged and affluent ahead of the deprived and disadvantaged.

Many writers and leaders exhibit a "paranoid style" of discourse. Many writings on Christianity portray it as exclusively and inherently a Western phenomenon, and feel that the Christianity of today is inseparable from the culture of the West. Christianity is often seen as containing the seeds of secularism in its very origins. Many writings and speeches continue to promulgate an East-West divide, which is still often expressed in terms of a Muslim-Christian divide or a divide of civilizations.

So many Muslims ignore what is happening in the West, and many non-Muslims ignore what is happening in the Muslim world. Both sides tend to essentialize each other as monolithic and victimize innocent others.

Hence, what is to be done in the long run is to "educate" people through various means -- cultural, political, diplomatic, and educational. Conspiracy theories believed by both Eastern and Western "fundamentalists" should be replaced by more rational, evidence-based explanations by governments and the mass media both in the West and the East.

Western decision-makers should rethink their foreign policies which relate to other parts of the world. U.S. policy needs to show real concern about the plight of others and be willing to listen. The American government should be more sensitive in its domestic and foreign policies. They have to show more credible and well thought out policies on global governance.

The rest should learn that the West is not a monolithic entity. The West is not inherently against others. What is now perceived as "Western civilization" and "Islamic civilization" are products of diverse peoples throughout history. There is no single culture or civilization that exists without interaction with others.

Our world needs more leaders and scholars to emphasize diplomacy and dialog. As modern communications and technology diminish cultural distances, so the task of intercultural exposition becomes ever more important and necessary. Global multiculturalism with mutual understanding and mutual respect is a challenge to everybody living in this global village. The relationships between "we" and "they" should be equal, dialogical, cognizant and hospitable.

The writer is pursuing his PhD in history and is a fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii, U.S.