Last Saturday during a security conference in Munich, Germany, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev made a thought-provoking statement that the world was in a new Cold War and that the West was to blame. He had pointed out the way West has had alienated Russia from world affairs and trying to isolated it because of its annexation of the Crimea.

In term of international relations this will be a new beginning. The conflict between the West against the other civilisations is coming to near its end, with the West led by the United States of America and its allies trying to eliminate Isis/Isil/IS/Daesh in Syrian and Iraq. Now the West needs to look for new enemy by revisiting the clash of ideologies. Therefore the palpable target will be Russia and China.

Before the West heads to that direction, the existing enemy needs to be eliminated. Therefore to start the propaganda, the West is allegedly creating soft conflicts as one has seen in Ukraine and the South China Sea to prepare the world for the next so-called ‘war’.

The current conflict or ‘war on terror’ is a melodrama played by the West to uphold its supremacy against the other civilisations or countries. To understand better, one has to examine the reasons behind so-called this proxy war to justify the atrocities against mankind as whole. Countries had been destroyed with weapons which were produced in the West, and people became refugees, with the loss of their dignity.

Since Sept 11, 2001, Islam and Muslims have been victimised throughout the world. The misconceptions of the West on the East, especially on Islam and Muslims, is rather based on the imperialist notion.

Samuel P Huntington’s Clash of Civilisation theory has become vital to analyse the pattern of global conflicts, which, have been transformed from ideology to religion. The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and the dismantling of the Eastern bloc left a vacuum of parties/powers in international conflicts.

Since then, the West has revived the old rivalries between Christianity and Eastern faiths, especially emphasising Islam as a major opponent to uphold the beliefs of Western civilisations.

The argument that Huntington put forward in his theory obviously is one tainted by Western perspectives. There is no tangible consideration given to Eastern values, which are based on religion.

The refutable explanations given in his articles are clearly undermining the basic concept of the Eastern faiths, especially Islam. The negative picture which has been portrayed not only enhances the very nature of views on Islam, but is rather damaging on the basic elements that the faith emphasises - the importance of upholding peace and tolerance.

The view Huntington has of Islam and Muslims is highly questionable. He wants the West to know the ‘enemy’ in order to safeguard the interests of the West on global affairs. The fear that he has can be further observed in his argument that Islam and Confucianism will collaborate together and eventually go against the West in future.

Negative perceptions

These negative projections made by international news agencies have a huge impact on the face of Islam globally. Islam is seen as a violent, fanatical, uncivilised, oppressive and biased religion throughout the world and this has been preached and orchestrated by the western media.

This is obviously a collective and well-devised plan of the West with the intention of undermining Islam and Muslims so that the West can have absolute control of their movements and interests. History has taught the West that if they fail to suppress others, in this case Muslims, the consequences on the West is that they will be conquered and dominated.

The West views the refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and African countries who are predominantly Muslims to Europe and North America as an invasion.

The emergence of right wing parties gaining popularity throughout Europe recently has confirmed fears of this incursion. Recently in Sweden, the decision of the government to send back an estimated 80,000 refugees to their countries of origin indicates that fundamental human rights are being suppressed due to alleged national interest.

This is a significant shift of policy on Muslim countries by the West since the collapse of Communism. The Sept 11 attacks have affirmed the fears and reinforced the deep-seated aggression of the West to isolate and harm Muslims throughout the world.

The rivalry and continuous aggression of West towards Islam and Muslims will not benefit the world as a whole. The massacre of Gaza in Palestine and the continuous instability in the Middle East has built up the mistrust of Muslims towards West. The War on Terror, the War against Iraq and Afghanistan orchestrated by the West has demoralised the Muslims.

Obviously this has contributed to the treatment of West on Muslims worldwide. Therefore to defeat the imperialist theory of Huntington, the World, especially the West, needs to adapt the view propagated by Edward Said. The Orient is different and therefore the West need to understand and respect to resolve any conflicts rather than take a negative approach by demonising it.

In a nutshell, the victorious West, by eliminating other rivalry civilisations, will shift their attention to the new war with its old enemies, i.e. Russia and China, and this will be the new clash of ideologies.

R PANEIR SELVAM is chairperson, Association of Legal and Policy Researchers.