World Order North-South, Islam and The West

The notion of a “World Order” has been created to define the hierarchy of power among states. The author points out that the rise of the modern West in the wake of the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment led to colonial domination of the other regions of the globe. The age-old clash between civilisations, particularly visible between Muslims and Christians during the era of the Crusades, turned into the domineering and exploitive policies of the western/northern, powers towards their vanquished subjects. That status quo largely persists in a new guise in the post-Cold War world but is not a real clash nor does it allow genuine dialogue between the rulers and the ruled according to the author.