The conflict which broke out in August 1990 announced the advent of the post-colonial era. The beginning of hostilities set the stage for the first civilizational war. The Gulf war is but the first episode of a North-South conflict where the fundamental issue is basically of a cultural nature. As can be seen from some of the texts in the present book, the Gulf war was "predictable" months before its launching. Its main causes go way beyond the occupation of Kuwait or even the world control of oil reserves by a Major Power. The issue is one of complete re-ordering of power relations which affects the whole globe.
What is at stake is the defence of cultural diversity in the face of a new hegemony backed by a formidable force with a destructive power unmatched in the history of mankind. This is happening at a time when humanity is living through a most acute ethical crisis. Hence the blindness of this humanity in the face of a genocide in which over 200.000 innocent victims died within a few weeks while tens of thousands of children have been and are still being starved to death in the name of a "new international order".
Although the articles, presented in the first part of this book, were written in response to events as they occurred, they do take account of the heavy trends derived from prospective studies which were conducted by the author on North-South issues over the last two decades. A selection of some of these future studies is to be found in the second part of the book.
The texts are presented in a chronological order so that the reader
may perceive, through the successive and interrelated events, the gradual
unfolding of scenarios which had been carefully prepared not to mention
a demoniac mass media campaign which conditioned a public opinion which
has not yet fully recovered from its hypnosis in spite of all the lies
which are surfacing day after day.
The origins of the "first civilizational war" go back to a fairly recent period during which the "South" failed to grasp the significance of the dimension of the future - a future which has ended by overtaking it as a passive and defenseless prey. But the futures of the future are still in the making. This is because the Future stands wide-open and its ultimate purpose should be to ensure the survival of mankind on the basis of human dignity, social justice, unimpeded public freedom and individual liberties, as well as tolerance and mutual respect for the values of others.
It is the only course if we wish to reverse the present trend by turning
the war against other civilizations into a civilization against all wars.
Rabat, Morocco, June 1992