LONDON: A majority of people do not believe that Islam and the West are in a conflict of cultures and that the prevailing tensions are a result of conflict over political power rather than for causes relating to either culture or religion.
A survey by the BBC World Service covering 28,000 people in 27 countries also indicated that most of the people do not believe the conflict could lead to any clash of civilizations. On the contrary, majority of the people -- 56 per cent -- are positive about a common ground that can be found between the western culture and Islam, while only 28 per cent believe violence could ensue as a result of the conflicts.
When repeatedly asked about the causes of the current friction, 52 per cent said they believed these could be the result of political disputes, while 58 per cent said minority groups caused the tensions.
Doug Miller, president of polling company GlobeScan, which conducted the survey for BBC, said the results indicated that there are no prospects of an inevitable and wide-ranging "clash of civilizations." Most people feel the tensions and clashes are the result of political power and interests and not religion or culture, he said.
He also pointed out to the fact that most victims of Islamic intolerance and terrorism are Muslims themselves.
The survey showed that only in Nigeria, where Christian and Muslim groups are engaged in open clashes, a majority of the participants -- 56 per cent -- believed that religious and cultural differences between the communities caused the conflict. However, an overwhelming 78 per cent of the participants in Lebanon believed the West-East tensions were the results of politics, while 68 per cent felt there is scope for common ground between the West and the Islamic world.
Nearly 51 per cent pollsters in Indonesia, which is the world's largest Muslim country, however, felt violence is inevitable.
The most positive responses came from Western countries -- 78 per cent of Italians, 77 per cent of Britons and 73 per cent of Canadians -- said they believe it is possible to find a common ground. However, many also blamed the intolerant minorities for fuelling disputes and disagreements. As much as 39 per cent of the respondents also said minorities on both sides were to blame.
The survey also brought out another aspect -- a good number of people sounded pessimistic about the future.
Besides GlobeScan, the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland was also involved in the survey, which was conducted between November 2006 and mid-January 2007.
