ABSTRACT: It would be a mistake to generalize, as the West seems to be doing, without distinguishing between the various realities of the "Muslim area". Generalizing simply means damaging the shaky democracies of the Turkish area and culture, or of central Asia as well as the newly-born democracies of black Africa". "Dozens of Muslim believers are members of the Radical Party..."

(1994- IL QUOTIDIANO RADICALE, 28 October 1993)

The surge of forms of obscurantism and religious dictatorship which recall old and new democracies towards the bottom of history seems to be the same in the West and in the East. Instead, it seems that the collapse of communism has generated a new enemy against which it is necessary to coalesce the old continent and the new East of democracy: the fundamentalism of the followers of Allah.

That the Kremlin's new pan-Russian goed hand in glove with that of the American military-industrial lobby is no big surprise. What is surprising instead is that in West, instead of underlining the differences that exist between the lay states and the fundamentalist states of the Muslim area, there is a tendency to generalize. It is a mistake: in Kazakhstan as in other countries of Turkish influence, in many countries of dark Africa (Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal or Mali) as in Algeria, Morocco or Egypt, let alone the European countries (Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), fundamentalis is either absent or irrelevant. Generalizing simply means damaging the fragile democracies of the Turkish area or culture of of eastern Asia, as well as the newly-born democracies of Black Africa. Dozens and dozens of Muslim believers from various countries are members of the Radical Party, and one of the struggles they support is the one for "a free Church in a free State".

Acknpwledging and supportinf this cultural and political choice means averting the dangers of Iranian, Sudanese, Afghan fundamentalism...