Integration Is a Two-Way Street

In the January/February 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, Dominique Moïsi of the French Institute of International Relations wrote that contemporary world tensions were not symptomatic of a clash of civilizations, but rather a result of interdependent layers of conflict.

One such conflict, he argued, is not so much a clash between Islam and the West but rather increasing tensions between secularism and faith. Polls conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project show that the role and importance of religion is declining in the West (with the exception of the United States), while the opposite is true in much of the rest of the world (with the exception of China). In particular, the role of faith in daily life is quite central to many Muslims, whether they live in Europe, North America or the Muslim world.

Another layer of conflict, according to Moïsi, is an emotional clash of cultures. But not “culture” in the traditional sense. On the one...