ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Majid Tehranian notes that global communication and international relations has been analyzed primarily through the framework of political-economy by Liberalists and Marxists and contends that this framework alone is not sufficient for understanding the world dysorder (as in dysfunctional) deeply rooted in ethnic conflicts that characterize the post-Cold War era. Like many of the authors in this volume, such as Shuter (Chapter 3), Asante (Chapter 7), Miike (Chapter 8), Karenga (Chapter 13), Mowlana (Chapter 15), and Tu (Chapter 32), Tehranian pinpoints one of the most important, yet often ignored, dimensions in international relations-the cultural. He presents a brilliant analysis of the double-edged nature of five current global trends: (1) globalism, (2) regionalism, (3) nationalism, (4) localism, and (5) spiritualism. Rather than simply rejecting these trends, Tehranian submits that each trend can be constructive or destructive depending on our collective choices and actions. He stresses that we ought to forge unity in diversity through communitarian globalism, inclusionary regionalism, democratic-benign nationalism, liberal localism, and ecumenical spiritualism.
