The Arab League educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), Tunis, has issued a book on the 4th of October 2002 entitled: Arab-European Cultural Dialogue: Needs and Perspectives. The book is based on the "Arab-European Cultural Dialogue Conference" that took place on the 15th - 16th July 2002, Paris.
The 413 medium size page book contains the papers presented during the conference. In the introduction statement of the book, Dr. Monji Bousnina, General Director of ALECSO, focuses on the need to open dialogues among all cultures, civilizations and religions, according to the needs of modern history. The book is divided into three main parts, the introduction and the ending statement of the conference.
The first part, "The Other", focuses on the need to know the other to be able to cohabit according to tolerance among civilizations. Religions, civilizations and cultures are not meant to confront with each other, but rather, cooperate and exchange experiences. This has been obvious during the long history of humanity and even during the struggle among nations. And for any cultural dialogue to succeed, we must accept that the others may differ from us. Being different shouldn't cause conflict and tension. On the contrary, if we manage these differences well, they may become a source for enriching cooperation. Furthermore, cultural differences must not necessary lead to political differences.
The papers presented revolved around the need of Arabs and Europeans to reach an agreement on two joint aims namely; defend cultural diversity and reject the existence of an unequal world. They must for this coordinate their efforts, more then ever in foreign policy, and search for allies. But they must, most of all, be a good example to follow, combining words with deeds to build a cooperation that will allow them to face globalization in a better way, and make do of available chances.
The second part, "The Culture of Peace" reassures the reality that dialogue can be achieved if the World Society truly wants an alternative to the current situation, which is currently charged with adverse ideas and fundamentalism towards others. For this, the civil society must take initiative steps such as improve the educational system, and change the way we think of others. Those who have the power, and give themselves the right to use this power to intervene in other peoples affair, must think twice to believe that that this power will help to open the doors of the future.
For "peace" as a humanitarian term is the respect of "the right", and to depend on "Just" and "Peace" there must be mutual trust among people. On the other hand, "Peace" and "Just" must also come together if we are to reach a stable peace.
This part also focuses on the heritage and dialogue among cultures issue. Culture heritage is human heritage, and there is an urgent need to preserve it, which in turn helps to preserve cultural identity in addition to strengthening social solidarity. For the modern world, the dialogue among civilizations and cultures will result in many challenges. We must understand that every culture emerges as a result of mixture, meeting on common ground and conflict. Culture would perish if it is kept in isolation, where deep inside every culture is the interaction of different cultures. Therefore, it is unacceptable to prefer some cultures and reject others. Thus the dialogue among cultures is a vital element to strengthen peace in the world.
The third part of the book, "Knowledge recognition" focuses on the need to find the right educational methods starting from the every day life of children, and giving special attention to school curriculum that enables pupil to enrich their knowledge about other civilizations. In addition to building language capacity among youths, this will enable them to indulge in any successful dialogue on civilizations. There is also a need to writ down non-biased historic curriculum. This kind of education must bring up citizens who enjoy the values of all civilizations based on human rights.
The Arab-European cultural dialogue will set the frame for the implementation of these values in groups.
The book concluded with the Paris Declaration for Arab-European cultural dialogue. It believes that dialogue is the best method for human-human links, in the process of bringing different thoughts closer, and finding ways for understanding and cooperation among nations. This can be achieved by depending on the common values among cultures and civilizations leading to fertile diversity.