Since the middle of the last century, there has been a state of political and military tension between Eastern and Western powers following two World Wars that largely changed the world's political, economic and geopolitical structure. These wars gave rise to the new philosophy of "ready for war" or the so-called "cold war". In the mid-1990s, the cold war reached its peak with the evolution of new concepts of cultural identity, especially after September 11. The world powers were involved in a new realm of intellectual and cultural convergence forcing them to rethink an issue they had neglected for a long time: cultural and intellectual identity. These thoughts came to constitute the cornerstone of "The Clash of Civilizations" of Samuel P. Huntington who said: "It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural." In the last 15 years, the world perceived that "cultural identity" will lead to a conflict in which a community loses control over its cultural boundaries while maintaining geographical boundaries. With the beginning of the 21st century the world stopped thinking of traditional wars and after September 11, started rebuilding a new world that integrates existing historical identities. The world, through history, was not able to convincingly go beyond the thought of religious identities, whether through European and American secularism or the socialism of the Soviet Union. In other words, both capitalist and socialist ideologies failed to create a culture that surpasses religious identities and their world influence. Over the last centuries when secularism with its two themes of capitalism and socialism evolved, there was a part of the world called the Middle East sticking to a historical identity based on religion. The geographical spaces separating the East and West allowed the West to force its new ideologies onto the community through political roles in these countries. But in the East the understanding and dealing with the cultural role of religion was paradoxical. The weak cultural communication and delay of globalism hindered the convergence between the East and the West. Since the 1980s, the concept of globalism has penetrated the world and the historical barriers between the West and the East have begun to come down because of the cultural exchange that is beyond the control of countries and communities, as people from different cultural backgrounds begin to meet online uninterrupted by any national political strategies or plans. This interaction via the Internet does not employ traditional weapons but rather the dangerous weapon of cultural identity with all its doctrinal and intellectual content. Europe was surprised that it had such a pool of cultures especially among its Muslim citizens who were easily guided by the secular cultural identity of these nations as the global culture had not yet penetrated the world. Cultural identity has become a global subject and intellectual and cultural convergence has spread. Moreover, the need of the East for the West is greater, especially at the human level, where migration to Europe and America has always been a strategic goal. In fact, this need has contributed to the formation of an independent cultural identity for Muslims of Europe. This culture resisted the dominant secular ideology and built its own traditional culture through Islamic centers, not affected by Western culture, even in terms of clothing as the Islamic leaders in the West still wear traditional Islamic dress. The world has been surprised by the swift penetration of cultural identity in the West, particularly during the last four decades. Two examples indicate the sudden change that will eventually have an impact on some communities. The first example, in 2001, was the announcement of George W Bush and his religious expressions about September 11 in New York and the other announcement was in 2015 when the Russian president said that the church was blessing the operations conducted by Russia in Syria. However, it is impossible for Europe to get rid of Muslims, and this means the impossibility of eliminating Islam. This applies to America and all countries that have a Muslim community of immigrants or natives. This is the challenge that the West is going to face. Islam is no longer a religion of immigrants, and as Vaclav Havel said: "Cultural conflicts are increasing. They are now more dangerous than ever". Likewise, Islam has not experienced a secular challenge as has Christianity, so, no difficult questions will arise regarding the relation between life reality and political reality. Europe and the West are facing a major challenge to establish intellectual spaces and rebuild new community ideas and cultures. The need today is for European renewal scientists and intellectuals. History is repeating itself and fundamental requirements are pushing toward a different reading of European culture which is increasingly mixed with an Islamic identity. Nevertheless, Europe has to produce a new version of scientists and scholars similar to the Renaissance era to study the new identities that have evolved in Europe, particularly Islam. History will not allow Europe to repeat inquisitions to eradicate Islam and Muslims because of a difference of political perspectives. A new vision of Islam should be created in Europe as an alternative to attacking Islam.By and large, Europe or the American West will not have much success in aggressively confronting Islam or incriminating certain intellectual groups standing behind ideological and cultural violence. The real challenge of opening the gate of world identities between East and West rests on building a new global cultural identity. Europe and America must initiate an Islamic ideology and adapt it to their structures rather than believing that Islamic identity can be administered by a certain group or creed. — The writer can be reached at: [email protected]
