PALITICAL ISLAM AND THE WEST

misconceptions that Islamic countries and the Western world hold about each other's cultures and to suggest ways in which their relationship could be redefined.

The conference gave delegates from East and West, and specifically from the United States and Iran, a unique opportunity to meet face to face and to exchange views. The speakers, too, represented a broad range of perspectives, reflecting their diverse intellectual and cultural traditions. Professor Huntington's controversial theory that a clash between the civilisations of East and West is inevitable provoked much animated discussion as successive speakers sought to refute or reinterpret his views. The noted Iranian intellectual, Professor Abdol-Karim Soroush of Tehran University, was one of many who vigorously challenged Huntington's argument.

Other speakers adopted the conference theme - relations between political Islam and the West - to analyse a variety of subjects. These encompassed the strategic location of the Middle East and the significance of oil, the position of women in Islamic countries, the implications for Islam of the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the role of the media.
The many speakers included Professor John L. Esposito, Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington DC; Graham Fuller, senior political scientist, RAND Corporation, Washington DC;

These remarks delivered as part of Professor Huntington's keynote address encapsulated the objectives of the two-day conference. "Political Islam and the West" was designed to challenge popular

Professor Anatoli Gromyko, President of the Russian Centre for Policy Evaluation, Moscow; Ayatollah Professor Mojtahed-Shabestari of Tehran University; Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; and Ambassador Eric Rouleau, columnist, Le Monde Diplomatique, along with other distinguished writers and academics.

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