DAR AL HARB / ISLAM- RUSSIAN / UMMAH: NEO-SOVIETS MAKING OVERTURES TO THE UMMAH, NEW BEST FRIENDS

Russia and Muslim world seek a strategy of co-operation
By Marianna Belenkaya

MOSCOW: The third meeting of the Russia-initiated Russia-Muslim World Strategic Vision Group ended in Istanbul earlier this month. President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev headed the Russian delegation to the forum.

At its first two meetings — in Moscow in March 2006 and in Kazan in August 2006 — Russia merely made known its intentions, whereas at the Istanbul forum it switched to action.

A two-day meeting produced three projects: a book on tolerance by 15 authors representing different religions and cultures, and other religious publications; the Russia-Muslim World Internet Journal; and a committee to award annual prizes for achievements in Muslim-Christian dialogue.It was also decided to set up an executive committee to control the group’s work between meetings, co-ordinate projects, monitor finances, and suggest new ideas. The location of the group’s headquarters will be discussed in the future.

Youssef al-Hassan, general director of the Diplomatic Institute at the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry, said in an interview with the Russian media that it is necessary to make sure that the group’s work does not depend on who is in power in any given country, and that it is consistent and structured.

He believes that apart from religion, Russia and Muslim countries should discuss cultural, political and economic subjects. Their dialogue should involve both governments and civil society.

Each country has its own views on the group’s tasks, although all agree that its goal is to promote ties between Russia and the Muslim world. All are unanimous that this will help stabilise the situation in the world, and particularly in those regions where Muslim, Western, and Russian interests converge. The question is how to achieve this.

Some think that the group should come up with a common vision on major global problems and give its suggestions for overcoming regional crises. Others lay emphasis on stronger contacts between Russian Muslims and their brethren-in-faith in the rest of the world.

Still others suggest dialogue between civilisations, which cultural projects are designed to promote.

Many Muslim representatives observed at the meeting that Russia, with its almost 20mn-strong Muslim population, has a record of peaceful co-existence between representatives of different religions. It serves as a link between the West and the East, Christian and Muslim civilisations.“Considering its experience, Russia could show the West how to build relations with the Muslim world,” said Ayatollah Mohamed Ali-Tashkiri, the spokesman for Iran and secretary general of the Forum for the Rapprochement of Islamic Schools.

Saleh H al-Aayed of Saudi Arabia, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, thinks that the group should focus on strengthening Russian-Muslim ties proceeding from Islamic interests in Russia, and vice versa.

He said in an interview: “Moscow should suggest a programme — how could Muslims from different countries help their Russian co-religionists without interfering in their and Russia’s home affairs. In turn, we should draft a programme for presenting Russia’s image to the Muslim world.”Members of the Russian delegation also laid emphasis on different things. Mintimer Shaimiyev, the head of the delegation, called for the unity of the Muslim world: “The Muslim world should not isolate itself, contradict, or lag behind the new processes that we are witnessing. The world is undergoing integration. Why shouldn’t we announce Islamic globalisation — not against the West, but together with it?” he said at the forum, adding that this will benefit both Muslims and Europe.

Ambassador Veniamin Popov, who represents Russia in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, believes that many recent international forums are refuting Samuel Huntington’s theory of a clash between civilisations, but are not going any further. At some meetings, spokesmen for the West are trying to impose their values on Muslims.

In the meantime, Russia suggests drafting “new principles of equal dialogue based on mutual respect.”

This dialogue should rest on the premise that “there are no superior or inferior civilisations; they are all equal, because they have made the same contribution to world development,” and that political conflicts should always be settled through compromise rather than by force.

Popov mentioned the 1928 Kellogg-Briand pact (named for the US secretary of state and the French foreign minister) on renunciation of war as an instrument of settling international disputes and pursuing national policy. He recalled that the pact signed by more than 50 countries has never been implemented, and probably, it is time to revive this idea.Clearly, elaboration of a similar pact is not within the group’s competence. The group is a kind of think-tank.

In an interview, the head of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, Vitaly Naumkin, said that the group unites people with levers of influence in their respective countries, and even if the group’s forum does not produce any major decisions, this does not mean that its debates are nothing but idle talk.

“We are consulting each other, specifying our positions on issues, and trying to remove contradictions. This is important for better mutual understanding. Cultural and humanitarian projects — publications, conferences, and youth centres — are the results of the group’s efforts which are obvious to non-participants. It would be unrealistic to expect more from the group.”

Some members of the group are disappointed about such an approach. They expect it to make serious political decisions. They are probably right — the very name ëstrategic vision group’ contributes to these high expectations. But the group is not even a year old, and is not likely to cause a sensation.

It will take time for it to turn from a place for exchange of opinion into a serious lever of influence. Whether this will happen will depend on all participants, regardless of who started this initiative.

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