Since the end of the Cold War, an idea has emerged to explain the tensions of the world: that of a confrontation between civilizations. An idea popularized by the American Samuel Huntington, according to which conflicts are no longer ideological or territorial, but cultural, religious, almost identity-based. The view on the Middle East is particularly interesting as we are witnessing the gradual disintegration of the major poles of contemporary Arab-Muslim civilization embodied by Iraq, Syria, and potentially Egypt. The disintegration, which some describe as one of the major geopolitical tragedies of the 21st century, challenges the sustainability of these cradles of humanity. Alongside the disintegration, there is also escalation. Since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli response, the fire has not stopped in the Middle East. Almost total destruction of Gaza. Now Southern Lebanon, along with the Israeli-American attack on Iran. This situation is closely monitored by Turkey, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023, with a particularly developed civilizational narrative. Civilization paradigms are on the rise worldwide, with increased competition for hegemonic exercise of power. Nostalgia for the empire. Critique of modernity.
Show in partnership with INALCO, the National Institute of Languages and Eastern Civilizations, and its DECRIPT program focusing on the transformations of the international system and the political and institutional effects of these civilizational narratives that have emerged on the world stage.
Invited guests: – Sophia Mahroug, lecturer at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, specialist in contemporary Iran and the Revolutionary Guards – Laetitia Bucaille, professor of political sociology at INALCO, researcher at the Center for Studies on African, American, and Asian Worlds, and senior member of the University Institute of France. Her latest work “Gaza, what future?” in the Essays collection at Stock – Jan-Markus Väthmel, historian. Specialist in modern Turkey and specifically Turkish Islamism. Postdoctoral researcher on the Near and Middle East in the DECRIPT research program at INALCO.
