False Universalism and the Geopolitics of Exclusion: The Case of Islam

In: Third world quarterly, Band 18, Heft 1, S. 7-23

Abstract

Western leadership of world affairs purports to adhere to an ideal of universalism, but the universalism it extols is false because it does not acknowledge difference & excludes participation by some civilizational identities. The marginalization of Islamic civilization in several domains of world affairs is discussed: (1) participation in the UN system; (2) adherence to a discriminatory nonproliferation regime for nuclear weaponry; (3) punitive peace; (4) policy making & participation in the world economy; (5) responses to terrorist incidents; & (6) stigmatization of states as outlaw or rogue. The need for normative adjustment through extension of human rights to include the right of civilizational participation is discussed. D. Generoli