Don McKinnon: Beyond the 'clash of civilisations'

From an address by the Commonwealth Secretary General, given at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies

People talk glibly about the "Western civilisation", or the "Hindu civilisation", or the "Islamic civilisation" as if each of these is a sharply defined entity. As a Kiwi l can tell you that there are considerable cultural differences between Australia and New Zealand, not to mention between France or Germany and New Zealand, though we are all supposed to be part of the "West".

Likewise, if Islamic civilisation was a monolith, why would Bangladesh have broken away from Pakistan and why do Sunnis and Shias often emphasise their differences? The fact is that no basis for grouping people, be it geography, religion, ethnicity or language, is the only way of defining who we are.

In order to understand fully the challenge of cultural diversity, we need to go beyond the idea of a "clash of civilisations"; we need a broader perspective on how cultures interact. This form of constructive engagement is central to the work of the Commonwealth. With its 1.7 billion people representing almost every religion, every ethnic and cultural group in the world, the Commonwealth is a flourishing example of multiculturalism in action.

And Islam plays an essential part in that engagement. There are in excess of 500 million Muslims who are Commonwealth citizens, between one third and one fourth of the total population. Muslims are therefore an integral and vital part of Commonwealth diversity.

The Commonwealth of Nations is not merely a juxtaposition of different cultural and religious communities. It is a global forum for sharing ideas, exchanging knowledge and establishing a cultural dialogue among equal partners.