ABSTRACT
The “Clash of Civilisations”, in Arabic “saddam al-hadharat”, is both topical and complex, leading to a false generalisation, and is a topic that is bound to stir up a great deal of controversy. For this very reason, it should not lend itself to hasty conclusions. Any preliminary remarks on the subject are likely to provoke a heated debate about the West and the Middle East, or between the West and the Third World. Furthermore, everywhere in the world, events are changing fast and the debate is still raging. The discussion of this clash began in the early 1990s with the publication of Huntington’s 1993 article. But 11 September 2001 has both accelerated and greatly embittered this discussion, in which too few hold to a centre position. The stakes have never been higher.
