ABSTRACT
Although all the ideas contained here are concerned with the wider notion of humanity, they can serve at the same time to steer the relationship between civilizations on the road towards dialogue, rather than allow it to be swept, by a breakdown of communication between them, on to the road of conflict and collision. If, as Sartre said, the future is what we make it in the kitchen of the present, the answer to whether we can expect a dialogue between civilizations or a clash of civilizations in future depends on what we do today. Thus the future pattern of interaction between civilizations can be dialogue if we make an effort in the present to steer matters in that direction. Alternatively, a pattern of clashes between civilizations can well become the norm if relations between them are left to drift by inertia on a collision course without a serious attempt in the present to open up proper channels of communication and dialogue.
