After Terror Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations

by Ahmed, Akbar S.; Forst, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780745635026
• ISBN10: 0745635024
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-22
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

After Terror presents sustained reflections by some of the world's most celebrated thinkers on the most pressing question of our time: how can we find ways to defuse the ticking bombs of terrorism and excessive interventions against it? It offers an antidote to the fatalistic global holy war perspective that afflicts much contemporary thought, focusing instead on the principles, issues, and acts needed to shift course from alienation and conflict to a path of sanity and goodwill among cultures and civilizations. The central aim of the book is to advance contemporary thinking on the causes and implications of 9/11 and thus provide the essential elements of a blueprint for humanity. It features 28 original essays by some of the world's leading public figures, scholars, and religious leaders, including Benjamin Barber, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Amitai Etzioni, Bernard Lewis, Martin Marty, Queen Noor, Joseph Nye, Judea Pearl, Jonathan Sacks, Ravi Shankar, Bishop Desmond Tutu, E.O. Wilson and James D. Wolfensohn. After Terror attests to the power of dialogue and mutual understanding and the possibility of tolerance, respect, cooperation, and commitment. Without ignoring the dangers of the modern world, it points to a future in which people can celebrate both the fundamental sentiments and interests that we share and the diversities that make us human.

Author Biography

Akbar Ahmed and Brian Forst, both of the American University, Washington.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Contributor Biographies in Brief

Introduction

Toward a More Civil Twenty-first Century

The Nature and Sources of the Problem

The Simple Power of Weakness, the Complex Vulnerability of Power

Dialogue and the Echo Boom of Terror: Religious Women's Voices after 9/11

Closing Chapters of Enmity

Benjamin Franklin's Gift of Tolerance

God's Word and World Politics

Pathways to Dialogue and Understanding

The Role of the Media in Promoting Tolerance

Civilization, Human Rights, and Collective Responsibility

Endless Enemies or Human Security

Dialogue Among Civilizations and Cultures

Transnational Moral Dialogues

In Other People's Shoes

A Universal Language, Without Boundary or Prejudice

Dialogue Among Civilizations

The Productive Airing of Grievances

All of Man's Troubles

Turning Enemies into Friends

Security Thought Dialogue (Queen Noor of Jordan)

The Power of Dialogue: Redefining "US"

On Clash, Morality, Renaissance, and Dialogue

The Just War Tradition and Cultural Dialogue

Celebrating Differences on our Melting Pot Planet

From Concern to Action

Clash or Dialogue of Cultures

The Fellowship of Dialogue

Hard Power and Soft Power

Global Governance in an Interdependent World

Getting to Peace: Awakening the Third Side

Risking Hospitality

Index

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