:Inurop

Understanding needs mutual knowledge and necessarily dialogue.

The recent appeal of Mrs. Ferrero Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, reminds us that there is not “clash of civilisations” today but, if anything, a “clash of ignorance”.

In this regard it is important to wonder how much our neighbours know about Europe, its institutions, its programmes, and of course, its values. And, at the end, we might discover that we share a range of indispensable values, deeply rooted in both our civilisations.

How much dialogue?

Liberty, freedom and equality, acknowledged as European-based values, are not even unknown in Muslim countries, recognised directly by the Koran. But if we wonder about liberty of choice, we have to recognize that it can not do without knowledge of chances,: that is to say, knowledge of what the neighbourhood is.

Recent events, especially after September 11, made inter-exchange more difficult: travels are discouraged, a stuck visa-system impeaches people mobility, and ground getting fertile for stereotypes to spread, leading to the re-emerging of the widespread Arab feeling “to be (re)colonized” and that, from Europe, “to be occupied”.

The progressive limitation of personal interaction conveys concerns that media remain the only channel for cultural dialogue. And we well know how much they are filtered by political lens.

Even though we do not see any more the hegemony of foreign programmes, characterizing the 70s and 80s, the argued “cultural invasion” does not seem to have stopped. American and European celebrities are well known in Arab region. There, according to scholars’ surveys, Abu Dhabi television, MBC, LBC, Art and Zen TV are the main channels conveying western way of life and gain a promising Arab audience, as the increasing digital satellite rate access testifies.

Young are the most vulnerable people to western values and they represent a fruitful public for western advertising agencies.

Is it what is called globalisation? There would be no worry if this was accompanied by other means of exchange, but apparently, other media instruments do not seem answering properly to the bid.

Despite many debates on Euro-Mediterranean relations, European projects to set up a real transnational media culture have never reached completion: Euro-Arab and Euro-Turkish channels laid on the stage of projects and keep being mutilated those which worked out: the jointly broadcasted monthly talk shows by Deutsche Welle TV and Abu Dhabi TV, vivid example of media cooperation, are not allowed to be aired in Germany.

The fear is that mutual knowledge be relegated to the “image” of the West, with little real contact, and what is worse, that this drives to identify Europe and America as one, creating a common enemy called “the West”.

How we get in touch?

The picture of media dialogue is actually quite deceiving. As scholars have underlined, reporting from Middle East in European countries are extremely event-centred, focused on war and terrorism, and totally forgetful of cultural aspects. Events are often dealt with details but rarely contextualised in a wider perspective: thus, this has created what an expert called the phenomenon of “news routine about Middle East”.

It is important to notice that reporting remains prone to national predilections, which stress the non-daily basis access to Middle East news contents. Pre-eminence of national interests affects the interdependence of media system: rarely appear judgements by those about whom the media report.

Nevertheless we have to say that in occasion of the Iraq war (2003), European press showed pluralistic reporting, sometimes even critical with their own governments (especially in UK, Spain). It would be a mistake however to idealize an “open” western media system opposite to an “authoritarian” eastern one.

Two main reasons are behind this conviction: first of all, it is a widespread opinion that Al Jazeera have preciously contribute to enhance public discourse and its giving speech to people from both parties of “the dialogue” pleads its connotation of unrestricted and opened public eye.

The second reason relies on the asymmetry in mutual regards: developments in European and Western societies receive more attention in non-western media than non-Western societies get in media of the West.

This conveys that we can not talk about “globality” in media system and mutual cultural knowledge suffers from the restrictiveness in which is bound: often influenced by events, it has to swing through stereotypes, ongoing policies and identity claims.

The one-sidedness of television stations is spread even in Middle East countries, so that ownership adheres to sectarian lines (that happens in Lebanon for example). Moreover, western capitals in television are marginal: the mainly share is held by Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and other governmental investors. This situation could be a more pressing challenge for Europe to undertake the creation of transnational, would be better to say, trans-mediterranean, media system, overcoming the capital impediment.

The exigency of a regulated instrument of communication would address the disoriented internet world: nevertheless the connectivity average is generally low in eastern countries (3%), blogs are increasingly developed but some scholars are critical about dialogue taking place on the internet. Masses are not drawn into debates through the net and who are very active on internet (Islamists) generally speak with selective groups of surfers.

What instrument available, what instruments to enhance?

It is sure, thereby, the better understanding is that taken step by step, and not grasped from newspaper headlines.

As the “sages’ group”, wished by the Prodi’s Commission and concluding its works in 2003, argued, “education is to be the central vector to learn diversity and knowledge of The Other”.

Unfortunately, results are not very impressing: differently from in Europe, where Islamic and Middle Eastern studies are well present and are proliferating, middle-eastern universities do not hold programmes in European studies. Except for Turkey, where an European Studies Center is based in Ankara, students have very limited possibilities to study Europe in a almost objective way, embracing institutional functions besides cultural values.

Programme-exchange as Tempus, financed by European founds, are time-limited, no more than 2 weeks, and cultural and social programmes available for youth are still concentrated in national cultural centers (normally French, Spanish and German).

It would be unfair however, forgetting special contributions that some institutions proudly keep taking on. It is the case of the Lindh Foundation, based in Alexandria, whose support was and keep being extremely helpful for mutual knowledge within the Med-partnership. Important events for enhancing “Dialogue between Cultures” (as stated in the foundation’s aims) periodically took place but unfortunately they remain sporadic events.

The gap is quite alarming: recent polls (Gullup Poll 2003) underlined that the majority of eastern countries perceive its own value system negatively influenced by western value system. Picture is more worrying if we noticed that there is no Arab country which do think western value system is not in contradiction with the Arab one, and percentages are particularly high in those countries considered be in more direct interaction with the West (Jordan, 62% of interviewed, Lebanon, 54%).

We are not arguing utopianly that a bilateral media and an educational system would be the dream solution for political troubles: but it is surely a loss not to exploit the common background upon which last calling for multilateralism (from both Europe and Middle East) have cast light.

Developing a transnational teaching in the journalistic schools, cinema and art institutes, and why not, university master programmes on European institutions in partner countries, may be the first step to fill the gap.

Of course it will not be quick, but “the better knowledge is that built slowly” and relished over time.

Elisa Cavatorta – August 2006

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