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Religious and cultural differences not to blame for tensions between Islam and West – global poll
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Most people believe tensions between Islam and the West arise from conflict
over political power and interests rather than fundamental differences of
religion and culture according to a 91Èȱ¬ World Service poll of 28,000 people in
27 countries.
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While nearly three in ten (29%) of those polled believe religious or cultural differences are the
cause of tensions, a slight majority (52%) say tensions are due to conflicting
interests.
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The poll also suggests that most people see the problems arising from intolerant
minorities and not the cultures as a whole.
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Twenty-six per cent of those polled believe
fundamental differences in cultures are to blame, while 58 per cent say
intolerant minorities are causing the conflict - with most of these (39% of the
full sample) saying that the intolerant minorities exist on both sides.
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The idea that violent conflict between Islam and the West is inevitable is
mainly rejected by Muslims, non-Muslims and Westerners alike.
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While more than a
quarter of all respondents (28%) think violent conflict is inevitable, twice as
many (56%) believe that "common ground can be found".
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The survey was conducted for 91Èȱ¬ World Service by the international polling
firm GlobeScan together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
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Steven Kull, Director of the Program
on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, said: "Most people reject the idea that Islam and the West are caught in an
inevitable clash of civilisations."
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Doug Miller, President of GlobeScan, added: "Perhaps the strongest finding is
that so many people across the world blame intolerant minorities on both sides
for the tensions between Islam and the West."
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More on the poll results
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 The view that problems arise from intolerant minorities is found in 25 of the
27 countries polled. Two countries (Brazil and the UAE) were divided on the
issue.
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Indonesia is the only country where the opinion that violent conflict is
inevitable predominates.
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Nearly a third of US citizens polled (31%) believe violent conflict is
inevitable.
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The largest majorities believing Islam and the West can find common ground are
in Italy (78%), Great Britain (77%), Canada (73%), Mexico (70%), France (69%)
and the USA (64%).
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The view that tensions between Islam and the West arise more from "conflicts
about political power and interests" than from "differences of religion and
culture" is endorsed by a majority in all but three countries - 56% in Nigeria
(51% of Christians and 59% of Muslims) say tensions primarily arise from
religion and culture; Kenyans and Poles are divided on the question.
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Overall, 55% of Muslims say that problems mostly derive from political
conflict. This is a view widely held in Lebanon (78%), Egypt (57%), Indonesia
(56%) and Turkey (55%). Fifty-one per cent of Christians agreed.
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Religion
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Fifty-two per cent of the 5,000 Muslims polled in the survey say it is possible
to find common ground including 68% in Lebanon, 63% in Nigeria and 54% in
Egypt.
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Thirty-five per cent of Muslims polled say violent conflict is inevitable
compared with 27% of Christians or others (27%).
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Education
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The belief that it is possible to find common ground between Islam and the West
rises with education from 46% among those with no formal education to 64% among
those with post-secondary education.
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Notes to Editors
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A total of 28,389 people in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China,
Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia,
Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States were
interviewed between 3 November 2006 and 29 January 2007.
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In 10 of the 25
countries, the sample was limited to major urban areas.
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The margin of error per
country ranges from +/-2.5 to 4 per cent.
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For more details visit
www.globescan.com or www.pipa.org.
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91Èȱ¬ World Service
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