Return to the 'Clash of Civilizations": Between Discourse, Iconography and Identity Construction

If religions constitute one of the criteria of identification in our contemporary world, one can legitimately ask about the real influences of three criteria & particularly of their capacity of mobilization. The Balkan countries construct their identity, formulate it & essentially diffuse it around a valuation in relation to the "Occident". Thus, who does not use or abuse -- in the Balkans, in Turkey, the Caucasus, in Central Asia -- a very pictorial rhetoric by associating, connecting, & confounding with the Occident the Occidental civilization or its attributes? Which country is not a bridge between the Orient & the Occident, a bastion of democracy & a factor of stability in a troubled region? This rich iconography teaches about the identities & relationships with the Occident (between belonging to & safeguarding civilization) where the religious play only a marginal role. Adapted from the source document.