ABSTRACT
In a world that has been condensed by globalization, not only does confrontation among civilizations and cultures increase in time, but also the quality of that confrontation becomes different. One difference is the multiplicity of contact points. Therefore, an analysis of the relationship among countries and civilizations will no longer be effective on the basis of the relationship among states. The same is true about reducing that relationship to political and economic relations. Analysing relations between two civilizations solely on the basis of interstate relations or official political levels will be unacceptable reductionism both in terms of epistemology and policymaking. The importance of this point can be better understood when analysing the relationship between the important civilizations of Iran and the West.
