For the last two decades, the world has been constantly facing challenges having completely new qualities: the growing tension between West and East, the uncontrolled spread of weapons of mass destruction, and the problems of facing large-scale ecological, demographical, technological, social and attitudinal dilemmas. In recent times a dialogue of civilisations has become a global and particularly pressing issue. As a result of intensive economic, political and cultural intercommunication, the world has become transformed into one indivisible system: present-day processes in one region greatly impact the functioning of the entire system. This new and important book is based on the proceedings of a conference in Tbilisi, Georgia dedicated to Catholicos Patriarch Ilia II, one of the world's foremost supporters and initiators of such a dialogue. |