It is my view, however, that no matter how pessimistic the landscape seems to be, we must not allow ourselves to concede to the inevitability of a trajectory which ends in the proverbial clash of civilizations. On the other side, we also see a growing suspicion and reticence on the part of Arabs and Muslims to engage with Westerners on matters that may help develop their own societies. Nor does this sort of prejudice fail to make its way into governmental policy, as is evidenced by the relative success of far-right political parties in Europe who are intent on marginalizing their Muslim communities. One may point to the rising Islamophobic sentiment in other parts of the world which finds expression in such senseless acts as the burning of copies of the Qur'an to express hatred towards Islam. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and the interminable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians are merely the highest profile examples of a global state of affairs whose ramifications extend to even the very local and regional levels. The long list of incidents that have revealed the intensifying tension between the Muslim and Western worlds over the past few years is countless. Proponents of the discourse of a clash have sought confirmation of their views by pointing to the increasing hostility and animosity between cultural regions - most obviously between the Islamic and Western worlds - that has defined the last quarter of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first centuries. In the views of many, the contemporary world in which we live appears to be marked most prominently by the emergence of what is regularly referred to as "a clash of civilizations".
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