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Abstract:
The Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) initiative emerged from debates around the 'clash of civilizations'. This article argues that the 'alliance' notion is an integral part of the clash of civilizations thesis. Thereby, clash and alliance together form a mutually constituting 'dichotomy', namely 'the clash/alliance dichotomy'. The first part of the article summarises the emergence and expansion of the 'clash of civilizations' myth. The second part seeks to underline important attempts to 'de-mythize' the clash of civilizations thesis. The article also shows how the 'dialogue' notion emerged as a response to the clashbased ideas and how it became a complementary part of 'the clash/alliance dichotomy'. Finally, the article focuses on the problems of the AoC that stems from the fact that it emerged as a 'reactionary entity'.
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