Do Conditions of Renaissance Exist in International Politics Today?

The Clash of Civilizations” thesis is the central theme in international relations today. How does one encounter such a conflict-ridden and divisive phenomenon? Is there any scientific way to investigate cultural diversity throughout the world while looking for universal human values and virtues? In other words, could worldwide cultural diversity be grounded upon a set of universal human values? From some recent scientific studies about human nature, it appears that there is surfacing a scholarly judgment of something called a common humanity. That common humanity seems to partake of a set of universal values—a common culture—that moves people into a universal set of moral principles. Some of those values and moral principles are as follows: personal and public safety, material well-being, social and economic equity, political democracy, cooperation, friendship, guilt and shame for wrongdoing, self-control, communal unity and defence, rule of law, reciprocity and fairness (justice), conflict resolution, the need for social and political hierarchy, and authority. Cognitive neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, and evolutionary psychologists are now discovering these universal human values that, they say, are grounded on human emotions. Could we identify these civilizational values with what Ibn Khaldun called “the rational soul?” Are these values prescribed in the Qur’anic teachings? This paper examines this question. This paper also intends to promote civilizational co-existence as opposed to a clash of civilizations.