The furore over the publication in some European newspapers of Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed prompts the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes to speak, once more, of a “clash of civilisations”. The Muslim Association of Britain accuses the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten of “flagrant disregard” for the feelings of Muslims worldwide. Yet again, there appears to be a clash between Muslim and western “values”. So what is going on?

At a time when the globalised world order is meant to be sustained by liberal democracy and free-market economics, we are confronted by complex and often violent problems that seem intractable. Paris suburbs burn at night; warlords thrive in Afghanistan; the Group of Eight wants to usher in democracy in Africa. All the while there is talk of the war on terror being a struggle to uphold “western values”. Indeed, we seem to have entered an age when conflict is primarily about culture: al-Qaeda rejects western ethics; Iraqis favour their own political morality; the estranged youth of France prefer Algerian raï music and Muslims in Gaza object to cartoons of the Prophet published in Copenhagen. But if the frontline is now cultural, who decides on the right values?