The new world order should be based on cooperation, integration, manners of dialogue and understanding, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nizar Bin Obaid Madani, said. This world order cannot be based on concepts of conflict, animosity and arguments of control, superiority and obliteration of others, he said. The minister was addressing the 18th session of the GCC-European Union ministerial meeting which concluded here on Tuesday. "Major problems and issues facing this new world are necessarily of international nature and universal dimensions. However advanced one might be in science, progress and development, no one can face these challenges alone," he said. All should be partners in facing urgent problems such as terrorism, issues of environment, illegal drugs, diseases, ignorance and poverty and some social issues such as broken families and deteriorating social values, Niaz Madani added. "If we can achieve this, the argument of conflict and animosity among civilizations, cultures and religions will be invalidated; attraction will replace repulsion; dialogue among civilizations and religions will prevail and sovereignties and cultures can coexist in a way that promote the common legitimate interests in a tight framework that can be called 'Civilization Security,'" the minister said. He said the issue has evoked an increased attention by all GCC countries and there is a remarkable activity and work in this direction. It has become familiar in GCC countries to hold conferences and symposiums to bolster this approach, shed more light on it and underline its importance. He pointed out that the last of these was the symposium held in Doha, Qatar, a few weeks ago. "In this context also comes the call by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for dialogue among followers of monotheistic religions with the aim of easing tension among human societies, of addressing cases of injustice, animosity and hatred, and of confronting the phenomenon of extremism, violence, and the attempt to demote others, the minister said. "The importance of this call is that it comes amidst extremely delicate international circumstances which have seen the emergence of new elements and confrontational arguments such as the conflict of civilizations, religions and cultures. This phenomenon has cast shadow on relations between countries and peoples, led to the emergence of new international problems and even increased the complication of the existing international problems and crises, thus threatening international security and peace," he said. "The vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is based on two main factors: The first is openness among followers of religions and cultures and peoples to establish exemplary relations based on confidence, understanding and mutual respect by means of bolstering converging foundations and common denominators among all religions since they all call for goodness and righteousness and renounce all forms of evil. "The second is to focus on strengthening these principles in the family, which is the cornerstone of sound societies which form the international community. This will achieve peaceful coexistence among them," Dr. Madani said. He said in response to King Abdullah's call, the Muslim World League has arranged an international Islamic conference for dialogue. Dr. Nizar Madani said King Abdullah's call supports the United Nations Charter and the international charters of human rights which, for peace, encourage dialogue, understanding and cooperation among religions and cultures, and fight cases of fanaticism, discrimination and incitement of hatred of members of any sect or followers of different religions and faiths. The charters also ask the media to establish an environment that leads to better understanding among all religions, faiths, cultures and peoples.
