At the dawn of the 21 st Century we, in Lebanon, are concerned with war and peace, religion and science, fundamentalism and liberalism, confrontation and reconciliation. Living at the crossroads of civilizations, we have always been concerned with the big issues because they tend to play their inner content on our land, our national existence, and our very soul. Christian-Muslim interaction, positive, or negative, affects our existence.
World peace determines the chances of peace in our region.
And political order in the region is a major determinant of our national existence. Universities operating at the crossroads of the civilizations assume special historic responsibilities. They must grapple with these issues, not as neutral observers, but as normative agents concerned with what is right and what is wrong, what is transitory and what endures. We grapple to reconcile, to broaden, and to deepen. The Center for Christian-Muslim Studies at the University of Balamand is of the essence of the university and its catalyst.