Dialogue Among Civilizations
Consequently, the UN proclaimed the year 2001 as the United Nations' "Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations", as per Khatami's suggestion. Pleading for the moralization of politics, Khatami argued that "the political translation of dialogue among civilizations would consist in arguing that culture, morality, and art must prevail on politics". President Khatami's call for a dialogue among civilizations elicited a published reply from an American author, Anthony J. Dennis, who served as the originator, contributor, and editor of an historic and unprecedented collection of letters addressing all facets of Islamic-Western and U.S.–Iranian relations entitled "Letters to Khatami: A Reply To The Iranian President's Call For A Dialogue Among Civilizations" which was published in the U.S. by Wyndham Hall Press in July 2001. To date, this book is the only published reply Khatami has ever received from the West.