Towards a New Westphalia Religious and Ethnic Diplomacy: Peace and Dialogue

Introduction
If diplomacy, in one of its definitions, means negotiating to represent the state and formulating the policies it follows in the field of international relations, then at the same time, it is an art related to the means and methods it approaches to achieve its goals within the framework of the foreign policy it adopts. and foreign policy, as known, reflects domestic policy of the state and it is an expression of its interests in the international sphere, whether in times of peace´-or-in times of crises and wars.
The origin of the word diplomacy goes back to the Latin language, which is diploma, meaning an official document. It is derived from the Greek language, which means a folded official document, in which what was agreed upon in the negotiations is recorded.
The diplomat s mission is, essentially, to ensure the implementation of the state s policy in the field of international relations to preserve the state s political, economic, cultural and other interests. If diplomacy is as old as the formations of the first entities of states, then contemporary diplomacy has been codified through international agreements, treaties and protocols, and the Vienna Conventions of 1961 are considered the most important and prominent at this level.
After the founding of the United Nations in 1945, the International Law Commission was busy codifying diplomatic relations and the immunity of official diplomats in 1949, and discussions took place to develop it in 1953, after the issuance of the United Nations General Assembly resolution on December 5, 1952. The Commission worked in 1954, 1957 and 1958 to prepare a draft for an international agreement on diplomatic relations and immunities, and despite the variations between the countries and the differences in their positions regarding what was written down, in the end it was agreed to hold a conference in Vienna that lasted from March 2 to April 4, 1961. In the presence of 81 countries, the conference adopted an agreement entitled “The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”, which consists of 53 articles, and the agreement entered into force on April 24, 1964.

If such a matter may concern official diplomacy between countries, then there is a popular´-or-unofficial diplomacy that can be complementary and equivalent to the policies of countries´-or-parallel to them. In fact, it has become so, and the state often uses it as a soft power to penetrate other countries. Its goal is to develop and improve relations in a way that serves the interests of countries, such as economic diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, sports diplomacy, scientific and technological diplomacy, religious diplomacy, ethnic diplomacy, and others.
The subject of our study is related to the religious and ethnic diplomacy and its role in the dialogue process to achieve peace, as this diplomacy, as much as it is a negative element for others, it can be a positive element for the state whose strength today is measured, not by armies and arms, but by its ability to possess science and technology, especially since we are in the light of the fourth phase of the industrial revolution, the communications and transportation vast development, media and information technology, the digital boom, the knowledge – based economic, and artificial intelligence. All of these elements can bring about great changes that were unimaginable more than a decade ago, as the world in which we know it, until the beginning of the twenty-first century, will change radically.
In this area, I will address religious diplomacy by highlighting the Lutheran-Catholic conflict and the role of dialogue in reaching the historical reconciliation. Then I will stop at the Document on Human Fraternity and the Islamic-Christian relationship, as well as the relationship between followers of religions, believers and non-believers within the framework of the right to life, human dignity and the principles of equality and justice.
Then I will move to the model of dialogue between intellectuals of the countries of the region regarding ethnic relations, first between Arabs and Kurds, so what do they want? The Kurds from Arabs, and what do the Arabs want from the Kurds? Then I will have a look at the relations of the countries and nations of the region: the Kurds, Persians, Turks, and Arabs, to emphasize the importance of culture in strengthening ethnic diplomacy between these four nations of the Middle East region. Then I will address the objective and subjective lifters of dialogue, last but not least I will conclude by stating that dialogue and peace are both an option and a necessity at the same time.


Lutheran-Catholic conflict

It seems that the saying "100 years of dialogue is better than an hour of war" applies, to a large extent, to the Lutheran-Catholic conflict. More than five centuries ago, the German monk Martin Luther began attacking the indulgences that Pope Leo the Tenth issued for the forgiveness of sins and to be an intercessor for Christians who obtain it to have the right to Paradise.
At that time, Luther wrote 95 articles opposing those indulgences, and tried to hang them on the doors of the Church of Wittenberg in Germany. The Pope responded by excommunicating him, and as a result, and with other Catholic-Protestant conflicts, bloody religious and sectarian wars broke out and lasted for many decades, in which the most horrific massacres were committed, and Millions of people were slayed.

Five centuries after that historical dispute between Catholics and Lutherans, an agreement was reached to end it and to resolve the conflict, on October 31, 2016, when a prayer was organized for the enlightened Pope Francis and the brave Jerusalemite Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation, in addition to its Secretary General, Martin. Younga, followed by the historic declaration signed by the Pope and the Bishop.
That joint prayer was considered as a turning point in the history of this absurd conflict, that lasted for centuries, and the agreement represented a major decisive moment in the life of the Catholic and Lutheran churches, and recorded a new positive history of the relationship between them, whereby the age-old conflict of cancellation, exclusion, prohibition, and skepticism was ended.
Thus, the two churches met after the “Declaration” in a practical translation of the faith of love and the baptism of hearts, noting that the dialogue between the two churches took 5 decades (half a century), as it began with the convening of the Vatican Council from 1962-1965 and culminated in the agreement in 2016.

Catholic-Lutheran Reconciliation

I asked my friend Bishop Munib Younan, whom I last met at the “Jerusalem in the Arab Conscience” conference, which took place in Amman at the “Jordan Arab Media Festival” (3-5 October, 2021), how did you reach this bold decision and put all the bloody blasphemous past behind you? From where did you derive the strength to put the purposes and spirit of Christianity a head of a crowd of fanatical Catholics and Lutherans?
He replied: We have put the disputes and disagreements that go back to the Middle Ages behind us, and left them to the extensive jurisprudential studies of theologians from both groups and whoever wants to weigh in on them, and we agreed that it is through grace alone and trust in the future that this can be achieved, especially faith in what hastens Christian salvation, which is not only up to us. God has accepted us and given us the Holy Spirit who renews our hearts and calls us to good deeds... Our new life is indebted to mercy, forgiveness, and renewal, and it is a gift we receive by faith, and we cannot deserve it by any other means.
Recurring back to the Declaration of Catholic-Lutheran Reconciliation, it focused on what is unifying and not divisive, it magnified those unities and reduced those differences, searching for common religious and human faith. Such a view does not concern Christians alone, but rather it can apply to all believers regardless of their religions. What unites believers, whether Christians, Muslims,´-or-followers of other heavenly´-or-non-heavenly religions, is one, that is embodied in the human ideals and values that represent the message and spirituality of religions. The "will" wanted what happened to happen, when the Catholic and Lutheran churches met and agreed to lift all previous condemnations and prohibitions written by the history of division and rivalry.
And if the religious, sectarian and ethnic divisions were violent and cruel in the past, they are, non the less, violent and cruel in the contemporary history, so, if we take two Arab countries, as an example, ruled by one party (Iraq – Syria), their relations remained severed for about a quarter of a century, rather, mere border´-or-political differences led to wars, estrangement, and hatred, in Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, and between Morocco and Algeria, Iraq and Kuwait, Egypt and Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, and Hamas and Fatah.
Beijing, on the other hand, disagreed with Moscow to the point of rivalry, despite their common theoretical and ideological back grounds and each of them claiming a connection to Marxism, but both of them did not hesitate to meet with the “enemy camp” and prefer it to the “different friend camp”, and we can recall here the shuttle visits that Kissinger made to China, as a squabble to the Soviet -union- during the era of President Nixon in 1972, and the development of Chinese-American relations, based on the theory of specific opposites.
Thus, the Shiites and Sunnis are divided, especially those who claim to represent them, dating back more than 1,400 years, due to the disagreement over the right of the caliphate, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and the problems and narratives that followed, which sometimes have no ties to religious and civilizational values, not to mention some biases and historical explanations and interpretations.
Without the slightest doubt, there are regional and international factors that fuel the fire of conflict and push many Arab and Islamic countries into civil and local wars andstruggles, and even apparent and sometimes hidden strife, which increased in particular after the occupation of Iraq in 2003, and the strong presence of Al-Qaeda, and later ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front. (Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) and its sisters.

Historic announcement

The first lesson achieved by the Catholic-Lutheran experience was to defuse the war that had been raging for nearly 500 years-;-
The second lesson is to achieve faith reassurance and attempt to address the psychological effects on followers of both sects.
The third lesson emphasizes the right to diligence and practice religious rites and rituals freely without coercion´-or-excommunication.
The fourth lesson relates to staying away from everything related to the past, and the bloody disputes and conflicts it caused, and paying attention to the present, away from historical conflicts while affirming the common Christian faith.
These lessons are suitable to be a guide and guidance for all believers and those who are interested in spreading the values of peace, tolerance, and common human elements among people, for that is a question of necessity.
When the moment of truth came, which is the moment of transcendence, purification, and spirituality, the brave Bishop Munib Younan went out, driven by his conscience, love, and the message of brotherhood in which he believes, to meet His Holiness. Pope Benedict

From conflict to partnership

Thus, the relationship between the two parties rose from “conflict to partnership” in order to enhance the values of justice, peace, and human rights, in addition to benefiting from historical lessons by not dwelling on the mistakes of the past and clinging to its preferences and claiming to possess the truth. This required acknowledging mistakes, overcoming them, and anticipating the horizon of the future and feeling its features.
In a careful reading of the declaration, we can notice the rejection of all forms of hatred and violence and emphasizing the importance of healing wounds and achieving Christian unity through joint action within the framework of human values defending the victimized and refugees, and for peace and justice. It also urged the believers of the two churches to maintain the infinite love of Christ for all human beings.
In my opinion, the declaration embodied the spirit of brotherhood, love, unity, and reform. Here lies the importance of rational, peaceful dialogue that takes into consideration the common interests and mutual benefits, and searches for meeting points, in adherence to the goals of unity and humanitarian common points.

Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together

On this occasion, we recall what was reflected in the document “Human Fraternity for World Peace and living together,” which was signed in Abu Dhabi by the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and His Holiness Pope Francis on February 4, 2019, which was considered a call to every living conscience to reject hateful violence and blind extremism. It is “a call for reconciliation and brotherhood among all believers in religions, but also between believers and non-believers, and all people of good will,” as it stated, in a way that enhances the principles of tolerance and brotherhood, unites hearts, and elevates the human being.
The world celebrated, for the first time, the International Day of Human Fraternity, after the United Nations General Assembly’s decision on December 22, 2020, to consider February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity, in response to an initiative presented by the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
It is worth to say that Abu Dhabi had hosted on February 4, 2019, the conference organized by the Council of Wise Muslim with the aim of activating dialogue with others for living together and brotherhood among people and promoting it globally. This conference set among its objectives, confronting intolerance and the offspring of extremism, especially intellectual ones, where, if the latter moves to action, it will become violence, and when it strikes randomly, it becomes terrorism, while by affirming the relations of human brotherhood that must be established on new foundations, based on respect for difference, distinction, and human dignity for the sake of living together and world peace, which is a matter that falls upon political leaders, religious institutions, and international and local organizations, for both Christians and Muslims, as stated in the text of the document.
The document highlighted a number of constant factors, as it called them, the most important of which is adherence to correct religious teachings that call for the values of peace, acquaintance, brotherhood, and coexistence, which would enhance the values of freedom, especially the freedom of belief, expression, and thinking for every human being, as well as the belief in pluralism and equal citizenship, justice for all, and recognition of the rights of women, children, the elderly and the weak, not to mention the rejection of terrorism and attacks on places of worship.
By rereading back to the merits of the document in connection with the words of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Pope of the Vatican, we realize the important messages that each of them tried in an integrated manner to convey, Al-Azhar’s call included four pillars, the first of which was -dir-ected to Muslims to be open to Christians, reminding them of the historical relations between them since the dawn of Islam, and the second of which was to the Christians of the East by saying: You are part of this nation... and you are citizens with full rights and duties... and you are not a “minority”, and the third to the followers of the two religions by calling for unity as “the rock on which conspiracies are shattered”, and the fourth, to the Muslims in the West by calling on them to integrate positively into their societies by preserving their religious identities, on the one hand, and sustaining the laws of the societies in which they live, on the other hand.
Pope Francis call for human brotherhood was when he said: All people are equal in dignity. We cannot worship God without respecting the dignity of every human being and the rights of every individual, because God does not look at us with an eye of discrimination that excludes, but rather with an eye that embraces all. The Pope focused on freedom of belief and the right to Difference, considering pluralism as the will of divine wisdom, pointing to the importance of living together to confront displacement, hunger, wars, and inhumane conditions.
The document signed by the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Pope of the Vatican is the first document in history, signed equally between Christians and Muslims with this symbolism, based on mutual respect, common interests, and defending the values of peace and tolerance. It is a civilized message against hatred at a sensitive moment of contemplation of human destiny, which necessitated raising hope in order to break down barriers and taboos between societies and followers of different religions and cultures, and enhancing communication about human values and rights, especially through dialogue and interaction.
The celebration by the United Nations is considered as a global recognition of the historic achievement attained by the document with its humanitarian contents, which requires rejecting stereotypical perceptions of others, and working to build bridges of cooperation and solidarity against racism, discrimination, superiority, subordination, and all manifestations of inequality and denial of human rights, and perhaps awarding the Zayed Human Fraternity Prize, by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antó-;-nio Guterres, is an opportunity to reaffirm the effectiveness of human commons, maximize commonalities, reduce disparities, and respect for privacy, within the context of the values of peace and non-violence, which the world needs to activate in all cultures and societies and among followers of different religions by innovating new means and joint initiatives so that the new generation can be inspired by them through educational, academic, societal and legal curricula that uphold the culture of peace, tolerance, justice, equality, partnership and common humanity traits.

Shiite-Sunni sectarian strife
Perhaps the talk of Christian unity prompts me to stop at the Shiite-Sunni sectarian strife that is intended to be awakened´-or-provoked so that it turns into a state of war and an exclusionary-abolitionist conflict that has no-limit-s. Would not those concerned be inspired to sign the historic reconciliation between Lutherans and Catholics? The blood of Christians in their various sects had previously been shed. In one massacre, 35,000 French Protestants were killed by fanatical Catholics in 1572.
Suffice it to say that the Hundred Years War and then the Thirty Years War ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 between Protestants and Catholics. Perhaps we need an Islamic´-or-Arab Westphalia, and that is an obligation that should be added to the other religious obligations, and by it I mean the interest of the nation.
According to Westphalia, religious freedoms were recognized, the independence and sovereignty of the various states (emirates) were respected, any religious´-or-sectarian persecution was prevented, and cooperation among them was achieved to remove economic and trade barrier, ending civil wars and factors of internal fragmentation, and establishing general rules based on a new social-legal contract that excludes any exclusion´-or-cancellation.
It may be useful to talk about the need for an Arab Westphalia Agreement, and perhaps an Eastern Westphalia, especially after the turmoil, conflicts, struggles and wars that have afflicted our region, in which much blood was shed and the lives of millions of people were lost, due to the lack of recognition of diversity, pluralism, acceptance of the other, and respect for their sovereignty and right to self-determination. This is similar to what happened in the Peace of Westphalia.
The Peace of Westphalia came after a wave of severe violence, that preceded this peace, which extended for a hundred years and was called (the Hundred Years War), in which millions of people were killed. It was not the only war at that time, as the conflict and war between the Lutheran Church and the Protestant Church lasted for five centuries, as was previously mentioned, where the number of those who follow the Lutheran Church is about (80) million, in addition to the followers of the Catholic Church, who number more than one billion and (200) million people, they agreed upon the stop of the quarrels and historical conflict and recognize each other, and leave the differences to academic forums, cultural complexes, theological and religious studies, and not to be used in the daily life of believers who are followers of the two churches, without having an impact on the street, and without having negative repercussions on the field of international relations.
The post-Westphalian international order lasted until the French Revolution, about 100 years of peace, despite some breakthroughs. But after Napoleon s defeat, a new international order was established in which Metternich played a major role, within the framework of what was known as the Vienna System in 1815, and it lasted for about 100 years as well, until World War I (1914 -1918).

Dialogue
The belief in dialogue means the belief in values and principles that are available to all people. Everyone has the right to express their aspirations in a private human entity within a general and comprehensive humanity consisting of communication, interaction and human collaboration embodied in convergence, understanding and cooperation.
As much as dialogue is acknowledged as a responsibility, it is necessary to purify the shared memory of the grudges, hatreds and bitterness that have accumulated over the days due to wars, conflicts´-or-violations, and move towards the concept of rapprochement and sharing without forgetting the past, which can be a platform to review and criticise the past experience, to prevent its recurrence on the one hand and to benefit from its historical lessons, on the other hand, in order to achieve a new concept of security for cultural groups, whether at the level of each country with its religious, ethnic, ancestral, and linguistic cultural diversity,´-or-at the level of the region’s nations, states, and peoples, with the aim of reviving the civilizational aspect of the special identity of each cultural group´-or-each society and its identities common interests, especially for nations and peoples with their general identities.
Dialogue is a long path to achieving societal peace in each and every country, and at the level of countries and peoples in general, and it is the opposite side of confronting the challenges of intolerance and its offspring, extremism, and its descendants, violence and terrorism, especially when this dialogue is cognitive and cultural and considered as a part of the belief in belonging to a unifying identity at the national level and a common identity at the level of peoples and the countries of the region.
This matter includes the idea of an Arab-Kurdish dialogue,´-or-an Islamic-Christian dialogue,´-or-an Arab-Iranian dialogue,´-or-an Arab-Turkish dialogue,´-or-a Kurdish dialogue with the nationalities of the countries of the region, including Arabs, Turks, and Persians,´-or-a dialogue that brings together the pillars of the four nations, as His Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal called it. There is a dialogue, that was called for, in Morocco under the title “Amazigh-Arab Dialogue”, after King Mohammed VI was informed of the celebration of the Amazigh New Year, which falls on January 13 of each year, and considering it a national holiday, similar to the Hijri New Year and New Year’s Day.

The goal of dialogue is to explore the prospects for solutions to problems, seriously examine the causes of crises and ways to overcome them, and choose appropriate means to address them. Therefore, it differs from formal courtesies and soft diplomatic addresses, which avoid discussing problems and differences realistically and do not jump over them because that will not lead the dialogue to its desired goal, but rather accumulates them and make them more complex and intricate. According to Mahatma Gandhi, the means are an integral part of the goal, like the seed to the tree, as there is no honorable goal without an honorable means.
What is required of dialogue, first of all, is to provide a healthy climate to spread a spirit of trust and thus gradually diagnose aspects of the crisis and to search among the social, economic and cultural commonalities to confront it. This requires freeing it from prior national, religious´-or-ideological projections, especially by returning to the relations of peoples and cultural groups with each other, within the framework of a single country´-or-at the level of the countries of the region in the East and West, by overcoming the prevailing political culture based on marginalization, cancellation, and non-recognition of the other, whether at the national level´-or-at the external regional level, this requires advancing the civilizational message of the idea of dialogue by making it an indispensable entitlement and a -dir-e necessity and not an intellectual luxury´-or-a passing whim. The matter begins with a review of the commonalities and differences, the positives and negatives, and the impact of the circles of convergence and interaction so that the space for dialogue is vast, continuous and permanent, and this will only be achieved through frankness, transparency and mutual criticism.

The first Arab-Kurdish dialogue

The first Arab-Kurdish dialogue was organized in London in 1992, in the presence of 50 Arab and Kurdish figures, as part of a human rights initiative that made its way to the Arab Organization for Human Rights, Which I had the honor to chair, after countless woes and tragedies, especially the violations to which the Kurds were exposed, which almost caused some to disbelieve in the idea of dialogue, the foundation of which has been cracked and its concept shaken, and such an initiative was tantamount to disrespect and swimming against the current.
Whereas the first dialogue between the intellectuals of the four nations (Arabs, Turks, Persians, and Kurds) was organized, for the first time, in Tunisia in 2016, when the “Arab Institute for Democracy” responded to an initiative, I have been promoting and advocating for, for more than a decade, and which was indicated by the Cultural Movement in Antelias (in 2017) on the occasion of honoring me as one of the cultural figures in the Arab world and Lebanon.

This was followed by the conviction of the “Arab Thought Foundation”, which was enthusiastic about the initiative, and this was in a symposium called “The Four Pillars of the Nation” on July 22, 2018, meaning the Arabs, Kurds, Turks and Persians, and it is a continuation of a symposium on “Arab-Kurdish Dialogue” on March 1, 2018, where it moved in the same -dir-ection, and all of these initiatives used dialogue as a necessary means for understanding and communication.

Regional countries and the Aftermath of wars

The aftermath of wars, disputes and conflicts in the region where we live, which includes the Turks, Persians, Kurds and Arabs, has been several millions of victims and more than 12 trillion dollars, in a not exaggerating estimates, during the past twenty years, Perhaps the most prominent and important of them is the Iraq-Iran war of 1980-1988 and its repercussions on all countries of the region, especially after the Iraqi government’s adventure in invading Kuwait in 1990, and the war of the coalition forces against Iraq in 1991, and then imposing an unjust international blockade on it that lasted 12 years, and then the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. And the outbreak of a wave of intolerance, extremism, violence, and terrorism in the region, the consequences of which are still continuing, not only on Iraq, but on all countries of the region.
This is nothing but the other side of floating development,´-or-at least disrupting it, and obstructing reform plans that cannot be talked about except in an atmosphere of stability and peace, because “wars are born in the minds” and therefore “fortresses of peace must be built in the minds as well,” according to the UNESCO Constitution, and because the -function- of the intellectual and cultural elites, in general, is to address the human being and his mind as well, in consequence, It must present a vision that is contrary to war, despite the devastation, destruction, and culture of violence, by giving precedence to reason and the logic of dialogue, understanding, cooperation, and common interests.

Such a futuristic outlook has engaged intellectuals, from many countries, who have realized through their experiences the importance of dialogue outside the circle of ideological clashes, religious and sectarian disputes, ethnic strife and narrow selfish polarizations, because it is based, in short, on the fact that the nations and peoples living in the region who suffer from internal tensions and disputes and regional and external conflicts, needs to rebuild its relations with each other, to develop them in the spirit of human values that represent what people have in common, away from attempts to impose hegemony, subordination, and interference in internal affairs, which have seriously harmed all the peoples of the region.
If we take a close look at the wars, conflicts, and struggles that the countries of the region are experiencing, we will see them as complex political, economic, and ideological wars, even if, in reality, they carry national, religious, and sectarian geopolitical “interests”´-or-“goals”, and tendencies to dominate and impose will, whether they occur -dir-ectly´-or-through intermediary, and sometimes by overlapping and interfering with other international interests, and the ongoing aggressive "Israeli" role is not far from it.
Is there an opportunity for the nations of the region to strengthen the ties between them and advance the challenges facing them, especially since there is a comprehensive targeting of all of them without exception? Then how can it invest the historical moment and capture what is essential and futuristic to build relations in accordance with collective universal values and principles based on: freedom, peace, tolerance, equality, justice, partnership, participation, and respect for particularities and sub-identities, and these are humanitarian principles for human beings, and this is also applied on the peoples of the region.

Five lifters for Dialogue and Peace
The approach to the title we have set for this booklet, “Ethnic and Religious Diplomacy: Dialogue and Peace”, presupposes an answer to a central question related to the appropriate means to achieve the goal of building the cultures of dialogue and peace, along with tolerance, and consolidating these cultures in light of the violence and terrorism that our situation has led to. If these values are civilized and realistic on a global level, then there are five basic lifters to embody them in practical reality, so that our societies, and indeed the entire world, can arise from the wrath of fanaticism, extremism, exclusion, marginalization, violence and terrorism.
This will not be achieved without providing a fertile soil for sowing its seeds, and deepening moral, legal, and social awareness for its importance, and even its necessity, through acknowledgment of diversity and pluralism and acceptance of the right to difference, heterogeneity, coexistence, and respect for others and implementing education on that, especially under the “rule of law,” whether that is at the individual´-or-collective level,´-or-at the level of governments and states, especially by providing a peaceful and non-violent environment in where humanitarian commons and the principles of equality and brotherhood between human beings grow.
Perhaps the five lifters we are talking about are what we miss most in our Arab and Islamic world.
The first lifter - the legislative and legal environment, as the absence of laws and regulations that respect the principles of peace, dialogue and tolerance, as well as a deterrent to those who violate them, whether regarding religions, nationalities´-or-cultures, will lead to the hatching of the eggs of non-peace and intolerance, and fuels Intolerance and extremism and their descenders violence and terrorism,which leads to armed clashes and wars, which aims for cancellation, exclusion and marginalization of others and to impose dominance too.

The second lifter - the educational and pedagogical environment. There is no doubt that the absence of a system of dialogue, peace and tolerance in the curricula and pedagogical and educational methods, it will lead to intolerance, non-recognition of diversity, and denial of pluralism, especially with the-limit-ed view of the other and the justification for discriminatory and superior practices, which creates sharp reactions and leads to encouraging conflicts and a feeling of alienation, especially vulnerable groups and those whose rights are being denied.
The field of education is considered the most effective means of reducing the phenomena of intolerance and discrimination, and perhaps the first step on this path is educating people about their rights and freedoms that they share, and affirming their determination to protect them.
Einstein says, “We must rewrite school books and curricula. Instead of glorifying old conflicts and prejudices, our education system must be filled with a new spirit. Our education begins in the cradle: mothers of the whole world have a responsibility to teach their children the importance of peacekeeping.”
In a letter to Sigmund Freud after his commission by the League of Nations and the International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation in Paris, he wrote:
“I am confident that you will be able to draw attention to methods of education which are capable, in a more´-or-less apolitical way, of removing the psychological obstacles felt by those who lack experience in the field of psychology, but who can judge its connections, relations and its potential for change.
The third lifter - the judicial environment. If the judiciary is professional, independent and neutral, under the rule of law, and applies the principles of justice, it will play a positive role in recognizing the right to difference and equality, supporting the oppressed, realizing rights, and consolidating the values of living together.
The fourth lifter- the media environment, which is a double-edged sword. The media can be a helpful and important factor in spreading the values of peace, tolerance and dialogue and their principles, and maximizing the commonalities,´-or-in promoting the opposite of them, that is, to spread what fuels hatred and grudges and magnifies differences.
The fifth lifter - the social and societal environment in which civil society can play a positive role in spreading the culture of tolerance, peace and dialogue, considering civil society institutions as monitors and observers of government practices regarding breaches and violations of these principles and their values, not to mention their ability to play the role of a force of suggestion and this is what is important, just as it can also be a force of protest, and this requires it to realize its responsibility and actually exercise it as an indispensable partner and complement to achieving development plans, if it is able to present draft laws, regulations and systems to consolidate and strengthen these values and principles, and purify the educational curricula and the media, religious and political discourse, from the prevailing manifestations of intolerance, especially those that justify discrimination and inequality.
In order for such a basis to be available, there must be a common understanding of these ideas, that is, peace, tolerance, and dialogue, by elevating it from the stereotyped idea that means there are two parties, one is strong and the other is weak,´-or-that portrays its opposition to the principles of justice as if it means turning a blind eye to human rights crimes and violations. It also requires recognition of the rights of others, especially the suffering people of vulnerable groups.
This means doing justice to individuals and groups whose rights have been violated, regardless of considerations of political and personal interest and expediency, by acknowledging the suffering of vulnerable peoples, nations, religions, sects, and groups, who have been exposed, due to intolerance and the violation of rights, to great tragedies that have befallen upon them as a result of wars, acts of genocide, oppression, terrorism, and violations in the name of "nationalism"", religion"´-or-"sect", "the interests of the working people",´-or-other ideological claims.

Privacy and Cosmic
Intellectual, cultural and legal elites, from their enlightened position, can be a “suggestion force”, especially when they are able to build bridges of trust with decision-makers, so that they become an active partner and an indispensable participant in the desired development process, whether in decision-making´-or-in its implementation, especially by spreading a culture of dialogue and communication leading to its adoption as a main approach in relations between nations and peoples.
Can we imagine how different the face of the region and its great status would be if it adopted a formula closer to Westphalia that took the form of a general “covenant,” “charter,”´-or-“agreement” for peace, based on respect for the principles of sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, the right to self-determination, and the development of cooperation and partnership? How effective will its impact be on each country, at the regional level, and even at the global level, by investing in the interests of humans, their rights, freedoms, education, health, environment, and development?
Of course, such relations and cooperation will lead not only to ending´-or-putting an end to the rivalry, but also to enhancing integration between its countries, peoples and nations, as happened in Europe, which includes different peoples, nations and languages, which were united in the European -union-.
In my opinion, the nations and states of the region will be able to confront internal and external challenges in a more efficient and worthy manner if they cooperate with each other and have unified goals, considering the specificity of each of them, including development in all its aspects, politically, economically, socially, culturally, educationally, legally, health-wise, environmentally, water-wise, services-wise, etc., and of course, this requires:
first and foremost, stopping wars between them, whether -dir-ect´-or-through mediation,
Second, adopting dialogue and peaceful solutions as a means of putting an end to existing conflicts, especially since dialogue has proven its worth as an effective means of understanding and cooperation between nations and countries.
Third, Recognizing the other and his right to express himself, live in peace, and practice his religious and national rites and rituals freely.
The opposite of dialogue is the continuation of the situation as it is: disharmony, divergence, isolation, fragmentation, fragmentation and division,´-or-the aggravation of the present situation and its worsening and deterioration. The repercussions of this will be disastrous for development, human life and well-being, in addition to the complexity of the region’s conditions and relations as a whole, and will give the external powers an excuse to exploit differences and to subject the countries and peoples of the region to hegemony and subordination. 50 years of dialogue is better than an hour of fighting, because of the moral, psychological, and material effects it leaves on the parties.
If the world is moving, nations and peoples, towards rapprochement, cooperation and integration, the peoples and nations of the region are still living in a state of mistrust, conflict and war, while they are supposed to converge, compromise and share, because of their common history, common religions and values, overlapping social relations, the possibility of economic integration and others.

The Need for Dialogue and Peace

Perhaps this is another reason for the relevance and necessity of dialogue, especially when the countries of the region face the phenomena of fanaticism, extremism, sectarianism, racism, abolition and marginalization, in addition to violence and terrorism, and even the threat to the national states. I believe that the ISIS terrorist organization model should remain constantly in view as a real threat to peace, security and development at the level of each country´-or-at the regional level. This is why dialogue becomes a necessity as well as a choice now, because it is indispensable, and its opposite will be conflict and war.
As a conclusion of this study, I may say: Shouldn’t developing countries, including Arab and Islamic countries, put an end to the sterile sectarian, denominational, and ethnic disputes, and the meaningless religious and ethnic wars? by adopting a formula closer to the “Westphalia Agreement” to establish a lasting and comprehensive peace?
This is what Europe reached after the absurd wars between Protestants and Catholics, especially the “Thirty Years’ War,” in which the lives of millions of people were lost, and ended with the signing of the “Convention of Westphalia” in 1648, which put an end to those conflicts and recognized sovereignty, the right to self-determination and the right to practice religious rites and rituals freely. In addition to the freedom of movement of goods and commodities within the framework of common interests, where such a matter becomes, for The Middle East region and its Peoples, “an individual obligation, not a sufficiency one”.







References
1- Abdul Hussain Shaaban - article entitled “Towards an Eastern Westphalia”, Al-Zaman newspaper (Iraq), April 1, 2020.
2- Abdul Hussain Shaaban - The trilogy of fanaticism, extremism and terrorism, published in Rawaqat magazine, published by the Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue, Baghdad, Issue 1, September 2019 - February 11, 2020.
3- Abdul Hussain Shaaban, an article entitled “Religion and Political Use,” published in the Al-Khaleej (Emirates) and Al-Zaman (Iraq) newspapers on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
4- Group of researches - “The Ukrainian Crisis and the-limit-s of Change”, research - “The Iniquities of a New World Order after the Ukrainian Crisis , proceedings of a symposium held by the Dana Center for Policy Analysis and Consulting, Baghdad, 2022, 2023 edition.
5- Herbert Fisher - The Origins of Modern European History from the European Renaissance to the French Revolution, translated by: Zainab Esmat Rashid - Ahmed, Dar Al-Maaref, Egypt, 1970.
6- See the dialogue called for by His Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal in Amman and attended by an Arab, Iranian, Turkish and Kurdish elite, Amman, July 22, 2018.




Published in “La diplomatie culturelle et religieuse , Paix et Dialoque au Moyen - Orient”, prepared by Dr. Nicolas Badaoui, and includes 8 Different researches in both English and French, and issued by L’Harmattan, Paris, 2024


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" نحو وستفاليا جديدة: الديبلوماسية الدينية والإثنية - الحوار والسلام".

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