Islam and the West in the Wake of the September 11th Attacks: Confrontation or Peaceful Coexistence?

The author has tried to address the relations between the West and Muslim World after the September 11 incidents and its consequences in order to verify this hypothesis that the changes after the September 11, in spite of the intensification of tension between the West and Muslim World does not support Huntington’s theory of clash of civilizations mainly because there are many factors at stake that prevent civilizational clash between Islam and the West. According to the author, although al-Qaeda network’s attack on New York buildings is one of the major manifestations of political and ideological confrontations between Muslims and the West, this confrontation cannot be generalized to the entire Muslim World and the West. He mentions six main reasons for his claim, reasons demonstrating that despite the heightened tensions between the West and the Muslim World and the pressure of extremist views in both sides, the relationship between Islam and the West in the future will be a peaceful relationship based on mutual understanding. The author concludes that it can be conceived that there is no challenge in the relations between Islam and the West but powerful Western countries’ treatment of the issue plays a crucial part in the enhancement or reduction of such challenges. Particularly US biased behavior toward the Palestinian question and its full-fledged support for Israel may reinforce these challenges.