This article argues that policies of the Bush administration since 11 September 2001, have had -- perhaps inadvertently -- the effect of generating "facts on the ground" that have led to the self-fulfilling realization of realities corresponding to Samuel Huntington's contentious concept of the "clash of civilizations" in relations between the Western and Islamic “worlds”.
One of the significant indicators of this phenomenon has been the counterproductive, self-defeating impact of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq on the "war on terror," with all available information, even from the CIA and other U.S. governmental sources, agreeing that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq has actually become more a part of the problem than of the solution.
In addition to documenting the perhaps counter-intuitive impact of President Bush's policies on exacerbating the factors making for global terrorism -- and enhancing the motivation of those who are prepared to give up their lives in the execution of acts of catastrophic terrorism -- the article briefly explores policies that could turn this situation around.
Author Bio(s)
Dennis J. D. Sandole is Professor of Conflict Resolution and Present International Relations Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Professor Sandole has lectured and published widely and is an active participant in conferences in the field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. His books include: Capturing the Complexity of Conflict: Dealing with violent ethnic conflicts of the post-Cold War era. London: Cassell, 1999; Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice: integration and application, co-edited with Hugo van der Merwe. Manchester: University of Manchester Press, 1993; Conflict Management and Problem Solving: Interpersonal to international applications, coedited with Ingrid Sandole Staroste. New York: New York University Press, 1987; Britain between East and West: a concerned independence, with John W. Burton, A. J. R. Groom, Margot Light, and C. R. Mitchell. Aldershot, Hampshire (UK): Gower, 1984. He has served as a consultant and has been recently awarded the prestigious, Fulbright Visiting Professor of International Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria. Prior to this he was “Researcher in Residence” in Vienna, Austria with OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), 1999. Professor Sandole was awarded the Fulbright Scholar Aarde with the OSCE Regional Research Program in 1997, was awarded the U.S. Institute of Peace Grant to facilitate development of conflict resolution in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey (1995-1997). He was a NATO Research Fellow, 1993 and participated in the U.S. Information Agency American Participant (AmPart), U.S. Speakers program and U.S. State Department Public Diplomacy Program between 1990 and 2002. He was William C. Foster Visiting Fellow with the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1989-1990. He can be reached at dsandole@gmu.edu.
Keywords
9/11, Bush administration, Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations", Western and Islamic “worlds”
Publication Date
11-2005
DOI
10.46743/1082-7307/2005.1061
Recommended Citation
Sandole, Dennis J. D.
(2005)
"The Western-Islamic “Clash of Civilizations”: The Inadvertent Contribution of the Bush Presidency,"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 12:
No.
2, Article 2.
DOI: 10.46743/1082-7307/2005.1061
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol12/iss2/2
