A round- table discussion on the aftermath of the 9/11 incident in N.Y.C. was held in the evening of October 31 by more than 20 faculties of the College of Foreign Languages & Literatures, Tamkang University.

The forum was organized by Prof. Reinhard Duessel, Director, Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultural Differences.

Many professors had attended this discussion, including Dr. Lin Yao-fu, Dean and three Chairs from Departments of German, French and Russian: Dr. Duessel, Dr. Gilles Boileau and Dr. Alexander Pissarev. Other faculties who also attended the discussion include Dr. Jess Fleming, Dr. Chen Chi-szu, Dr. Akira Tomita, Dr. Wu Kuan, Dr. Stefan Bucher, Dr. Holger Hoeke, Dr. Vladimir Maliavin, Dr. Shen H. Marshall, Dr. David Cornberg, etc.

The major theme of the forum was: “Conflict of Civilizations---Myth or Reality?” With this topic, the questions the forum raised are: “Is there a conflict between civilizations?” “How do we take the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in N.Y.C.?”

Most of the professors who participated in the round- table talk believed that there is truly a presence of conflict between civilizations, but given the inherent nature of such a hostility, every civilization also has an inborn tendency to resolve the conflict. This is how Prof. Alexander Pissarev perceived the entire affair. For instance, he said, Confucianism and Buddhism all partake of this disarming characteristics. He also referred to the well-known scholars, namely, Professors Samuel P. Huntington, Francis Fukuyama and Emmanuel Wallerstein for comparison and contrast.

“Is Terrorism a derivative of the Islam dogmatism?” This hypothesis has intrigued the attending professors. Many just couldn’t agree on that, and quoted many sayings from the Koran, the Islam Bible to support their arguments.

“Is poverty the cause of Terrorism?” This hypothesis is also a controversial one, because many of the Terrorists came from bourgeoisie families---how do we reconcile this phenomenon? Even more paradoxical is the fact the “grand-duke” behind all this hoopla came from the upper class whose immense fortune reminds us of Pluto, god of Hades in Roman mythology.

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