The Khaleej Times International Forum brought together the cream of the East and West to discuss "Muslim World and the West: Coexistence of Civilizations." Heads of Government, Consuls and prominent businessmen attended the event that cleared many misconceptions between the two civilizations. It was the third discussion hosted by the Khaleej Times, and attended as panelists by Lord Merlin Victor Hay who is the Earl of Errol and Lord High Constable of Scotland and a member of the British House of Lords. Also on the panel was Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, a Muslim Asian Member of the British House of Lords and a leading voice in the ''Inter-faith Inter-religious Dialogue Group'' in British Parliament. The third panelist was Lady Olga Maitland, president of the Defence Strategic Forum and a former Member of the British Parliament, and Mohammad A. R. Galadari, Chairman of the Galadari Group.

A balance of perspective is lacking in the way both the West and the Muslim World deal with each other was Lady Olga Maitland''s view. "You have a West that is fabulously rich and strong, whereas the Muslim society by and large lives under miserable conditions of poverty and dispossession," she said. "The Muslims do not hate the West. What they hate is, however, certain policies of some Western countries." The need of the hour, according to Lord Merlin Victor Hay, is to understand that the ethical core of all cultures is one, beneath the external differences that keep them apart. Lord Nazir Ahmed was blunt in his analysis of Western attitudes that he said smacked of double standards. The consensus that emerged from the highly stimulating discourse was that dialogue alone is the way forward for cultures and civilizations to coexist. Javed Malik, consultant Khaleej Times International Forum, set the tone of the discussion in his opening remarks by stressing that the publication of the blasphemous cartoons cannot be called ''freedom of expression''. The Group CEO TCS, Jamil Janjua, was there along with the TCS Business Development Leader Naeem Ijaz, understanding the issues at stake in an effort to help bridge the divide.